Riot-hit refuse to come back (orissa story)

Dwijendranath Padhy

Riot-hit people of Kandhamal who have taken shelter in Sourakuligam village in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh

 

 

PARLAKHEMUNDI: At a time when the State Government is claiming that riot-hit people of Kandhamal and nearby areas are returning to their houses, there are about 250 persons of the strife-torn areas who are refusing to go back to their villages out of fear.

They have taken shelter in two villages of Meliaputti and Mandasa mandals of Srikakulam district in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, 35 km from here.

As many as 109 persons of 35 families of Sarlaguda, Raikia, Nuagaon, Baliguda, Bataguda, Barkhama, G.Udaygiri, Tikabali and Suraballi areas have been residing at Sourakaligam village of Meliaputti mandal, AP, since Kandhamal violence.

‘‘Two days after the killing of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati, our village was attacked and houses were damaged. Apprehending danger, we fled to the nearby jungle and from there, we walked to Bhanjanagar in Ganjam. From there, we took a bus to Meliaputti,’’ said Santa Nayak (30). When asked if she wanted to return to her village in Kandhamal, she said : ‘‘We are not safe there.’’ Similar is the story of 10-year-old Amulya of Barkhama village of Baliguda.

He along with his family shifted to Sourakuligam village of Meliaputti immediately after the Swami’s killing.

The pastor of Meliaputti said these persons had submitted a memorandum to the District Collector of Srikakulam through the Tribal Christian United Welfare Association, requesting help basing on which the Collector has asked the local tehsildar to submit a report.

Besides, there are 140 others of Kandhamal, who have taken shelter at Kumudhisingi village of Mandasa mandal.

Meanwhile, social activists of Gajapati have urged the State Government to take steps to bring back these people to their villages.  (Expressbuzz)

Court asks nun to be present at identification parade

BHUBANESWAR: The nun who was raped in Kandhamal has been directed by a district court to be present at the test identification parade on November 10. The court of sub-divisional judicial magistrate at Baliguda issued the notice to the 29-year-old Catholic nun on November 1 after it was informed that the Crime Branch of police had failed to trace the complainant.

 

The court fixed November 10 as the date of the parade at Baliguda while hearing a petition filed by the Crime Branch investigating officer Dilip Mohanty. In his application, Mohanty told the court that the Crime Branch was facing difficulties in conducting the identification parade due to non-cooperation of the complainant who had lodged an FIR at the Baliguda police station on August 26 alleging rape. 

Though the Orissa government as well as the police had made several appeals to the raped nun, she did not turn up to assist the investigation. The Supreme Court in its order on October 22, had also asked her to assist in the probe. 

The nun, however, told reporters in Delhi on October 24 that she did not have faith in Orissa Police and demanded a CBI probe. “The court in its notice has asked the nun to be present during the TIP on November 10,” assistant public prosecutor B Loknath Dora told PTI. The court notice has been sent by post at the nun’s address at the Bishop’s house in Bhubaneswar.

Indian army officer arrested over deadly bombing

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – An army officer was arrested on Wednesday in connection with bomb blasts in two western towns that killed five people and were blamed on a Hindu militant group, a government lawyer said.

Officers from the anti-terrorism squad in Mumbai questioned lieutenant-colonel Srikant Purohit, a Hindu, for days before finally arresting him.

“He was arrested this morning and is being produced in court,” said Ajay Misar, a government lawyer acting in the case.

The officer is accused of helping Hindu militants with bomb-making and other logistics in the attack in the Muslim-dominated towns of Malegaon and Modasa in September.

A retired soldier was also questioned in the case, which has embarrassed the army.

Three other people, all Hindus, had already been arrested in connection with the Sept. 29 attacks.

For years, bomb attacks in India have mostly been blamed on Islamist militants. Even attacks on mosques were often blamed on Islamists seeking to spark communal tensions between India’s majority Hindus and minority Muslims.

Muslim leaders have accused authorities of conducting a witch hunt and reinforcing stereotypes about their community after dozens of Muslims were detained following a string of bomb attacks across the country this year.

In August, two suspected Hindu militant fundamentalists died while trying to build a bomb in the northern town of Kanpur.