BARIPADA: Tension prevailed in Udala of Mayurbhanj district after a person allegedly died in police custody on Sunday. The deceased was identified as Pradip Kumar Das (38) of Mandarpur village within Remuna police limits in Balasore district. Udala police had arrested Pradip from Remuna on Saturday night for his alleged involvement in a jewelery theft case.
Alleging that Pradip died due to torture in custody, hundreds of people from Remuna staged protest in front of Udala police station. Brother Radhakanta Das said Udala police arrested Pradip when he was standing at a tea stall near Remuna Golei. “I went to meet my brother on Sunday morning but was told that he succumbed during treatment in Udala hospital,” he claimed.
IIC Sarthak Ray said on January 19, two miscreants looted jewelery worth lakhs of rupees from one Niranjan Sahu’s house in Udala town. Basing on his FIR, Udala police registered a case and in the course of investigation, found that Pradip was involved in the burglary.
“During interrogation, Pradip admitted that he was involved in the case. However, he fell sick at around 2 pm and police immediately took him to Udala hospital. But he died during treatment,” the IIC added.
Postmortem of the deceased was carried out in presence of Udala Sub-Collector Pravat Mohapatra.