Bhubaneswar: A 32-year-old daily wage worker died after being tortured while in police custody in Odisha’s Ganjam district, with the DSP ordering a high-level probe into the matter.
The deceased has been identified as Sushant Sahu, a resident of Subalaya village in Kabisuryanagar police station area. Police arrested him on May 25.
Sahu was declared dead on arrival by doctors at MKCG Medical College Hospital in Berhampur on Sunday evening, police said.
“The police beat him mercilessly… There were injury marks on his body. There were also blisters on his body when the police poured hot water on him,” his wife, Mamagin Bardhan, alleged.
He was first taken to Kabisuryanagar Hospital and later shifted to MKCG Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival, she added.
The state police headquarters said in a statement that Director General of Police YP Khurania had ordered an investigation into the alleged incident by the Human Rights Protection Cell.
Speaking to PTI, Southern Range IG Niti Sekhar said, “The body has been sent for post-mortem examination. Strict action will be taken if it is found that the man was physically assaulted while in custody.”
He said that there is no provision for physical torture in police stations.
“If these allegations are proven true, strict action will be taken,” the Inspector General said.
A senior police officer said that Sahu was detained on charges of attacking a police team that had gone to a stone quarry in the area to raid it.
This was the third such allegation against Odisha Police in the past month.
The first such incident was reported on May 25 at Tallachowa Marine Police Station in Kendrapara district, where a woman alleged that she and her son were physically tortured by law enforcers while in custody. A statement issued by the Odisha Police Headquarters said that the inspector in charge has been suspended.
The second alleged incident occurred at Parang police station in Cuttack district on May 24 when a man was beaten and seriously injured by law enforcers.
The inspector in charge of Parang Police Station has been transferred while the family’s allegations are being investigated, police said.
The opposition BJD, in a statement, claimed that at least nine custodial deaths occurred in the state in 2025-26 up to March 15 this year.
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