The Odisha police, on 6 July, in an affidavit, told the Chhattisgarh High Court that two men from the coastal state were abducted by the police from Chhattisgarh's Bastar district on charges of being Naxals. According to the petitioners’ lawyer Satish Chandra Verma, the allegation was in response to a petition filed by the relatives of the two men, seeking inquiry before the HC.
The Odisha police said in their affidavit filed on Thursday that Niranjan Dash and Durjoti Mahankudo were picked up illegally from Kotpad police station area in Koraput district by policemen from Nagarnar village in Bastar district on 26 June 2016.
The Quint has accessed a copy of the affidavit:
The affidavit has been signed by Nirod Kumar Nayak, a police officer attached to Kotpad police station. According to the response, the Chhattisgarh police entered Koraput district without giving any intimation to local cops, and arrested the two men after accusing them of being Naxals.
When the relatives of the two men approached a court in Koraput, it directed the Odisha police to investigate the issue. Their family members also moved the Supreme Court, which asked them to approach the Chhattisgarh High Court.
During an earlier hearing, the HC had sought a response from the Odisha police. The Odisha police also said in the reply that the matter should be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for a free and fair investigation. The next hearing is scheduled to take place after two weeks.
(With inputs from PTI)
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