Judicial probe ordered into Orissa police firing

BHUBANESWAR - Orissa Tuesday ordered a judicial probe into an incident of police firing in which a lawyer was killed and over a dozen people injured in Cuttack district, Home Secretary A.P. Padhi said.

Lawyer Bishnu Das, 35, was killed and more than a dozen people, including a superintendent of police, were injured after police opened fire Monday to disperse villagers near Bagalpur village, some 20 km from here.

The police firing and baton charge came as thousands of people blocked the road to protest the death of a youth. The crowd refused to move despite warnings and attacked the police and pelted stones at them.

“The government has ordered a judicial probe. The next of kin of the victim will receive Rs.5 lakh as ex-gratia,” Padhi told IANS.

The government earlier announced a compensation of Rs.1 lakh ex-gratia and ordered its crime branch police to probe the incident.

According to villagers, a local youth was found dead near the village road Aug 19. While villagers said he was murdered, police claimed the youth died in an accident. This set off a clash between the villagers and police.

Condemning the death in police firing, lawyers staged a protest in the district headquarters of Cuttack and state capital Bhubaneswar Monday as well as Tuesday.