A tribal group from the Nabarangpur district here has alleged that the local police under pressure were trying to implicate villagers in an incident of alleged human sacrifice.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Harabati Gand, a tribal rights activist, alleged: “Tankadhar Bhatra, a tribal youth of Goramba village under the Nabarangpur district, was suspected to have been sacrificed in the house of one Bankim Ray of U.V. 23 village on February 19 last. However, the police took confession from one Raju Mandol of killing the tribal youth.”
“Raju had allegedly confessed that since the deceased had raped his mother, he killed Tankadhar. This version by the Umarkote police is not true. Raju’s mother came out in public that she was never sexually assaulted and her son was framed by the police,” said Ms. Gand.
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Although the deceased’s family members filed a complaint with the police that they were suspecting it to be an incident of human sacrifice, the investigating officers did not pay any heed to their account.
“The Umarkote police station personnel have terrorised people. When both the deceased’s wife and the mother of the accused are urging for an impartial probe into the incident, the police are trying to give it a different colour,” said the tribal rights activist.