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Cuttack/Puri: Taking serious note of the alleged police excess during lockdown enforcement in Puri, the Director General of Police (DGP) Abhay has directed Puri Superintendent of Police to investigate the incident personally and submit a report to the police headquarters at the earliest for further action.
Puri SP Kanwar Vishal Singh will probe into the circumstances that led to such unfortunate incident, reports said.
A working journalist sustained injuries in attack allegedly by some police personnel in Puri yesterday while he was covering an enforcement drive by the cops in the city.
The victim identified as Datatreya Nayak, a correspondent of an Odia daily alleged that some home guards had allegedly assaulted some fruit and vegetable vendors on charges of flouting lockdown and Covid protocols in the morning hours.
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“I requested the police personnel not to beat the sellers rather try to sort out the issues. Five to six home guards suddenly dragged me and put me on ground before repeatedly kicking me even after I divulged my identity. It is unfortunate the incident took place in presence of the local police IIC and city DSP,” the scribe said.
“Is it a police state? he asked while staging a dharna on the same spot seeking justice.
Nayak further alleged the home guards also heckled him and forcefully pushed into the PCR van.
“Later, I was freed after the intervention of the IIC,” he said seeking justice against the police atrocities.
According to reports, police personnel had tried to evict some vegetable vendors on the Bada Danda in the pilgrim town on Wednesday for allegedly violating covid rules. A scuffle broke out between police and vegetable-fruit sellers following the incident.
Some vendors alleged that they had been beaten up by police even as they did their business in the stipulated time given by the government with strict adherence to Covid protocols.
“Some junior police personnel forcefully snatched our weighing machines, instruments, umbrella and demanded money from us. The senior officials are not involved in such activities but the juniors are torturing us every day,” a vegetable vendor alleged.
The traders in a group later staged a protest on the Bada Danda demanding action against the erring police personnel.
