Orissa villagers protest over death of a youth under police custody

GAJAPATI - The residents of Lamdang village, which comes under the jurisdiction of Adaba Police Station in Orissa’s Gajapati District, staged a protest on Tuesday over the death of a youth named Pradeep Majhi under the police custody.

Gajapati Superintendent of Police Sarthak Sodongi said the deceased committed suicide under the police custody.

According to reports, the police arrested Majhi along with three youths for interrogation, as they were suspected as Maoists.

“While searching in the houses, we got some incriminating evidences and also these four people were arrested with the possession of Maoist literature, dress and the other materials. So they have been taken to the police station for interrogation and after that one person in the morning of December 26th committed suicide. We tried our best to save his life,” said Sodongi.

Meanwhile, the villagers got agitated with the incident and protested outside the police station.

Social activist Bimbadhar Nayak complained that the police convict innocent people in their custody, and also demanded compensation and help from the government for the family of deceased.

“Our complaint with the police is that they take the innocent people under their custody. Who will be responsible for his death? We are demanding for 20lakh compensation for the deceased family and they should be given support for livelihood and government should take care of the education of the children of the family,” said Nayak. (ANI)