Odisha: Police body puts on hold proposed strike

Odisha Havildar, Constable and Sepoy Confederation, which had threatened to go on strike from Sunday, has decided to put on hold its state-wide stir saying the state government has yielded to its demands in the two-month-long lawyer-police spat.

Out of our three demands, the state government has already taken care of one, and has initiated appropriate measures to fulfil the remaining two, said confederation president Santosh Satapathy on Saturday.

He said the confederation is grateful to the state government and the DGP for being considerate.

On Thursday, the confederation had given a 48-hour deadline to the state government to revoke the suspension imposed on three policemen and a home guard, who had allegedly assaulted advocate Devi Prasanna Patnaik on August 28 after the advocate was thrashed by the public over a series of accidents he committed in a drunken state.

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The police body had also demanded action against the IIC of Chauliaganj police station, who had let up Patnaik on the night of August 28 without initiating criminal proceedings against him after he was brought in an inebriated condition to the police station.

Further, it had demanded action against those advocates, who had assaulted constables on duty inside the High Court premises on September 28.

The government has revoked the suspension of policemen and sought an explanation from the IIC of Chauliaganj police station for his August 28 action, Satapathy said adding the DGP has also assured of appropriate action against the culprits of the September 28 incident that took place inside the premises of the High Court.

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Reacting to the state governments action vis—vis the demands of the police body, the High Court Bar Association Secretary Satyabrat Mohanty said: It was very unfortunate that the State Government revoked the suspension orders on those policemen, for whose arrest, the lawyers are agitating for over two months now.

He said these developments will be discussed by the general body of the bar on Monday.