Bhubaneswar: In yet another instance of desperation of the common man following alleged denial of justice by the State, a woman and her son tried to immolate themselves near the State Assembly in Bhubaneswar on Saturday.
The incident occurred on the busy IDCOL road behind the Odisha Assembly complex.
The woman, identified as Sulochana Das, a resident of Kujang alleged that the police has been refusing to investigate the murder of her son though a FIR has been lodged following directions from a court.
She alleged the police had submitted a final report in the case terming her son death ‘accidental’. This was despite the fact that he had been murdered, she said alleging that the DSP was influenced by an Army personnel to prepare the report. She alleged at least 10-12 people were involved in the murder.
“I ran from pillar to post for justice for my son whose murder was made into an accidental death case. From the Chief Minister to the local SP (Superintendent of Police) we approached everyone. But nothing has been done so far and the police is refusing to act on our complaint despite a direction from the court,” alleged Sulochana.
High drama unfolded near the state assembly when Suochana and her other son Subrat appeared from nowhere with bottles containing some liquid in their hands. However, alert security personnel deployed on the spot overpowered them before they could do anything.
Sulochana later said that she and her son resorted to the extreme step to highlight the denial of justice to her other son, Amrut Das who had been ‘murdered’ a year back.
She said the body of Amrut, an engineering by profession, was found lying on the side of the Cuttack-Paradip State Highway at Balipatna near Tirtol on July 20, 2019.
She alleged that Amrut had actually been murdered over past enmity and the killers had dumped his body by the side of the highway to make it look like an accident. She said the family was getting threat calls from anonymous callers on repeated occasions before Amrut’s death.
The police had however, made out an unnatural death case. It was only after the family knocked the doors of the court, police had to registered a murder case in March this year.
“Despite making several rounds of the Chief Minister’s office, 5T secretary and other offices at district level, no step has been taken to nab the culprits involved in the murder of my brother. Even the Jagatsinghpur SP did not listen to our grievances. Left with no option, we decided to kill ourselves in front of Odisha Assembly so that at least justice can be done to my brother,” said Subrat.