Wednesday, February 16, 2011

[HumJanenge] Fwd: [odishasoochanaadhikarabhiyan] Fwd: Officer-in-Charge, Thakurmunda Police station under Mayurbhanj district, Orissa misbehaved to RTI Activists, Information-seekers

Such behaviour towards citizens discloses a quite unhealthy trend

Sarbajit

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Pradip Pradhan <pradippradhan63@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 3:39 PM
Subject: [odishasoochanaadhikarabhiyan] Fwd: Officer-in-Charge, Thakurmunda Police station under Mayurbhanj district, Orissa misbehaved to RTI Activists, Information-seekers
To: odishasoochanaadhikarabhiyan <odishasoochanaadhikarabhiyan@googlegroups.com>
 

Dear  friends

On 14.2.2011, a team of volunteers had visited  to the office of Thakurmunda Police station  under Mayurbhanj district  to get  some information  proactively  disclosed under section 4(1b) of RTI Act and to experience the system  put in the police station as per  Orissa High Court directives  to provide  the  information to the citizens. It needs to be mentioned here that  the DG of Police  had filed  an affidavit  in High Court  that all the Police stations have been  declared  as Public Authority with  appointment of  PIOs  and  display board  is  in place in every police station. During  visit,   the OIC, Thakurmunda Police station not only denied to provide any information saying that SP office  is only authorized to provide the information    but unruly behaved  the volunteers  to any extend. Complaint  has been lodged to DG, Police, State Human Rights Commission, State Information Commission  demanding  action against Mr. Bhagawan Jena, OIC, Thakurmunda.


Regards

Pradip Pradhan




To

The Director General of Police                                                                                                            Date- 16.2.2011

Cuttack

 

 

Sub- Enquiry into misbehavior and unruly behaviour of Mr. Bhagawan Jena, Officer- In-charge of Thakurmunda Police Station  under Mayurbhanj District to information-seekers and RTI activists.

 

Sir,

 

We, the following signatories, volunteers and RTI activists belonging to Mayurbhanj district bring to your kind notice the following complaint seeking your urgent intervention and remedial justice.

 

2)         That on 14.2.2011, we visited Thakurmunda Police Station to seek some information, which are supposed to have been proactively disclosed and kept ready for public inspection with effect from the 12th October 2005 as mandated under Section 4 of Right to Information Act 2005. On reaching there, we found the gate of Police Station closed. We informed the gate keeper about the purpose of our visit. Requesting us to wait, she went inside to consult the OIC and after a few moments she returned and opened the gate  to ensure our entry to the  premises of the Police Station. We went straight to meet Mr. Bhagawan  Jena, OIC and appraised him about the purpose of our visit i.e.,  to get  some proactively disclosed information under Section 4 of the RTI Act. The OIC suddenly got irritated and shouted at us saying that no information was available in his office and asked us to get out. We returned back from there in silence and empty handed.

 

3)         Then, when we were on the way back, a police jeep carrying SOG Jawans  reached  at us  and asked us  to  visit the police station again. The said jeep carried us also to the police station and the Jawans put us before the OIC, who immediately started hurling abusive words at us. When we enquired to know about the reason of his misbehaviour, Mr. Jena suddenly became furious and scolded us in an aggessive manner saying "bloody nonsense, you are bloody Maoists, I will teach you a lesson" and the like. Then he used these very words like "sala besi dekhei hauchha, netagiri dekhauchha" For one hour at a stretch he continued his unruly and abusive gestures and utterances against us. We were not allowed  to open our mouth. We also could not understand why he dealth with us so savagely.

 

3)         When the OIC was at the peak of his infuriated rage against the group of RTI users, Mr. Pradip Pradhan a prominent RTI Activist from Bhuaneswar and a Trainer cum Resource Person on RTI reached the Police Station accompanied by Mr. Jyotiram  Dash and Mr. Brahmanad Swain of Thakurmunda. When Mr. Pradip Pradhan was about to sit on a vacant chair, the OIC Mr. Jena started abusing him with vulgar language. His words  were "You are a bloody nonsense; Who are you  to sit here? Is it decent to sit before a police officer without permission? What is your academic qualification? How dare you to sit before me like this? When Mr. Pradip  Pradhan started explaining him about the purpose of the visit  and asked him to know about the arrangements made in the Police Station to provide the information under RTI Act, the OIC irritatedly retorted, 'Why shall we provide the information? It is SP office, which should provide the information? Who are you to ask for information? and so on and so forth. The OIC also meted out similar kind of unruly misbehavour to Jyotiram Dash  and Brahmanand Swain using abusive words and scolding them. The OIC also called the SOG Jawans  to heckle Jyotiram Dash, but Mr.Dash vehemently protested against it. Still one of the SOG Jawans physically  assaulted Jyotiram. After scolding and threatening the RTI activists for abut an hour to his fill, Mr.Jena the OIC' asked us  to leave the Police Station.

 

4)         The act of unruly misbehaviour by the OIC Thakurmunda towards the RTI activists has  badly damaged our sense of dignity and self-respect as citizens of India and also instilled into us a very scary feeling of fear, threat and insecurity amongst us about our local police and police station. We still continue to harbour an anxiety that  our life may be endangered by the above Police Officer at any moment our of his deeply ingrained malice and hatred against the cause of RTI and RTI activists.

 

5)         That we had recently come to know from the newspapers that the DG Orissa Police issued a circular instructing all the Police Stations to put in place Public Information Officers so as to provide information to the public directly, and the Orissa High Court also closed the concerned PIL following the apprisal to the Court by the State Government that the above mentioned new arrangement has already been put in place and consequently the members of the public are now in a position to avail the information under RTI Act from each Police Station directly. But the way Mr.Jena, OIC Thakurmunda misbehaved with RTI activists and flatly denied to provide information to the visiting RTI users shows that he has nakedly violated the instruction of DG Orissa Police and deserves therefore strong penal action rom the Departmental authorities.  

 

So, we request you to enquire into the matter and take appropriate disciplinary action against the OIC Thakurmunda and ensure proper arrangement to be put in place in the said Police Station to comply with the request for information either under Section 4 or Section 6 of RTI Act 2005.

 

Thanking you

Yours sincerely

 

 

Pandab Kumar Mohanta                               Mahendra Nath Behera

Sanabaliposhi Champajhar                            Mankadabeda Champajhar

P.S.- Mahulidiha                                            P.S.-Mahuldiha

Dist-Mayurbhanj                                           Dist-Mayurbhanj

 

Ghanashyam Naik                                         Pradip Pradhan

At/Post-Champajhar                                      Plot No-791

P.S-Mahuldia                                                 Mangala Mandir Lane

Dist-Mayurbhanj                                           Bhubaneswar

                                                                        M-99378-43482

 

Jyotiram Dash                                                Brahmanand Swain

At/post-Thakurmunda                                    At/post-Thakurmunda

Dist-Mayurbhanj                                           Dist-Mayurbhanj

M-7894990463                                               M- 8018542334


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