BHUBANESWAR: Even as the National Human Rights Commission continues its probe into the lynching of government railway police (GRP) Soumya Ranjan Swain, postmortem report has revealed that the 32-year-old policeman died because of severe head injuries during the disturbing incident.
The injuries were caused by heavy blunt force trauma. The postmortem report, seen by this paper, said key reason of Soumya’s death was ‘subarachnoid haemorrhage of brain’. There was serious bleeding inside his brain, caused by strong blows to the head and body. The bleeding damaged the brain severely enough to cause his death.
The report also disclosed that he sustained multiple injuries all over his body including face, head, neck, back, arms, thighs and legs. In the violent attack, Soumya suffered deep bruises and lacerations, swelling and blood collection under the scalp and internal bleeding around different parts of the brain.
The report indicated the injuries were ante-mortem in nature, meaning they occurred before his death. The doctors opined that the injuries were caused within six hours of his death. It concluded that Soumya died due to brain haemorrhage resulting from multiple force injuries, especially to his head. Soumya’s viscera, urine and blood samples have been handed over to the police for forensic examination to ascertain if he was under any intoxication during the incident. They even provided his nail clip, scalp hair and dry blood soaked gauge to the police for examination.
The railway constable was lynched by a mob in Balianta area on May 7 morning in police presence. He was tied and suspended from a bamboo pole and put in a pick-up truck to the hospital after the incident, triggering massive outrage.
Meanwhile, a two member team of NHRC led by DSP Rajendra Singh and inspector Avinash Kumar concluded their five-day investigation of the lynching case and left on the day.
Rights activist Bhajaman Biswal, who had filed a petition with NHRC, said the commission’s officers examined several persons including police officers as part of their investigation. They will now submit a report to NHRC, following which the Commission may issue further directions to the authorities concerned, he added.
In a related development, Crime Branch of Odisha Police which is probing the case has asked ADG Railway to inquire into the allegations against a senior IPS officer accused of engaging Soumya for personal works.