Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Orissa High Court in a land mark judgment yesterday has asked the State Government to pay the bereft family of Rabindra Sahu of village Uamsa Sahi of Puri district a cash penalty of Rs.2.5 lakhs within two months.

Sahu was tortured to death in police custody in the Hazat of Chandanpur Police Station, as allegedly involved in a stealing of a bicycle; he failed to grease the palms of the investigating officer (I.O.) with at least 3000 rupees, on 30 October 2001.

After he succumbed to inhuman atrocities, the I.O. and the staff of the police station had fabricated alibis to show that he had committed suicide in custody.

People of the locality who had witnessed the torture and the post-mortem report as well as medico-legal analysis established that it was a custodial homicide.

Hence the award.