BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) on Monday suo motu registered a case over the alleged assault on a 16-year-old boy at Udit Nagar police station in Rourkela on December 26.The Commission has directed SP of Rourkela Mukesh Kumar Bhamoo to conduct an enquiry into the incident and submit a report during the next hearing on February 15.
“It has been reported that a boy of Rourkela’s Timber Colony was taken to a police station where he was beaten up and kicked. Instead of sending him to a shelter home, he was detained in the police station without food,” the OHRC observed. The victim alleged that he was tortured at Udit Nagar police station on suspicion of mobile phone theft. The boy claimed that he had found a mobile phone near his house a month back.
Another boy of the locality offered him `1,500 for the phone. On December 26, some police personnel arrived at his home and took him away to Udit Nagar police station where he was allegedly undressed in the night and given electric shock. He was also beaten up to make the confession. However, he was released next day with a warning not to disclose what happened to him at the police station.
Taking strong note of police excesses in the State, OHRC had last year asked the government to institute a training programme for police on handling of persons detained or arrested. The investigating officers should undertake a one-month training on human psychology and rights along with behavioral aspects as day-by-day incidents of misbehaviour, custodial deaths and torture are increasing, the Commission had stated. However, no action has been taken by the government in the direction.