Police personnel had to face an embarrassing situation in Kanipal village under Pattamundai rural police limits of Kendrapara district on Sunday for allegedly asking for money from some farmers.
Reportedly, as many as 75 farmers from Pattamundai were arrested while staging a demonstration under the banner of Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan near the Odisha Assembly on September 22. While some were later set free, a few were booked under section 107 of IPC.
Later, the accused farmers were sent notices by the Commissionerate Police through their local counterparts. However, the farmers of Kanipal accused some police personnel of demanding Rs 300 each as bribe while serving the notices.
Opposing such illegal money collection, irate farmers reportedly detained the concerned police personnel for some time.
"We were fighting for our rights near the State Assembly when police arrested us. Many of us were booked under section 107 of the IPC. Our local police demanded Rs 300 while serving a notice to me. I just paid him Rs 50, but they refused that amount. Then, I offered him Rs 100. They were asking for money not les then Rs 100,” alleged Sunakar Das, a farmer of Nilakathapur.
Dasarathi Sahu, another farmer of NNKS, expressed his displeasure over the issue and said, "Farmers were booked for pressing for their rights while the government is boasting of doing a lot of things for them. It remains to be seen what action the government will take against these cops who were extorting money from the poor farmers.”
When contacted, Pattamundai SDPO Khymasagar Panda said that he has no information about the incident but he would look into the matter.