BERHAMPUR: Amid protest by government employees of Patrapur over the alleged abduction of local block development officer (BDO) Prakash Das, the case has taken a new turn after the wife of an accused died. Family members attributed the death to police excesses.
Kin of Chakrapani Sabar, one of the arrested persons in the case, lodged a complaint with Jarada police on Thursday alleging that the accused’s wife Rahas Sabar died after being assaulted by cops. Brother-in-law Khali Sabar, in his FIR, said Jarada police raided Dhadiamba village on Wednesday and thrashed Rahas when she tried to resist the arrest of Chakrapani. T
wo persons of the village, Chakrapani and another Rabindra Sabar, were arrested for allegedly taking the BDO hostage over the omission of their names from the voters’ list.
Khali alleged that after being beaten up by police, Rahas complained of chest pain. But no one was there to take her to the hospital as all the men in Dhadiamba had fled fearing police action. The condition of Rahas worsened and she died on Thursday evening.
Based on the complaint, police registered an unnatural death case. The body of Rahas was handed over to her family after an autopsy on Friday. Contacted, Jarada IIC Bhabananda Pradhan denied the allegations of police excess levelled by family members of Rahas.
Meanwhile, a delegation of the OAS officers met Berhampur SP Pinak Mishra on Friday and submitted a memorandum demanding the arrest of all the accused involved in the abduction of BDO Das.
On Thursday, employees of government offices in Patrapur resorted to pen-down stir and staged dharna in front of the block office demanding arrest of the abductors and protection for all government staff. They withdrew their stir after Ganjam Collector Vijay Kulange assured to consider their demands.
Earlier on Wednesday, villagers of Dhadiamba under Tumba panchayat had taken the Patrapur BDO hostage over not being able to participate in the election due to missing names on the voters’ list. Das had gone to Tumba to inspect the school transformation programme when he was forcibly taken to a nearby place and held hostage there for nearly two hours. The BDO was later rescued by police.