The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has begun a ground investigation in Kendrapara after allegations surrounding Tikhiri gram panchayat sarpanch Chameli Ojha led to a formal human-rights complaint.
A three-member NHRC team reached Kendrapara on Monday night and began its inquiry on Tuesday. The investigation is examining the circumstances surrounding an incident on June 11 involving Ojha, Mahakalapada BDO Rabi Narayan Acharya, police personnel and other officials.
At this stage, the allegations against the officials have not been established as facts. The NHRC is investigating the different versions of the incident and examining evidence before reaching any conclusion.
Ojha, 33, is the elected sarpanch of Tikhiri gram panchayat under Mahakalapada block. According to her complaint, she had gone to the BDO’s office on June 11 seeking clearance of pending payments related to development work in her panchayat. She has alleged that the situation escalated at the office and that she was subsequently mistreated and assaulted by police while being taken to the police station.
These claims are now part of the NHRC investigation.
The commission’s team comprises NHRC Deputy Superintendent of Police Isam Singh, Gugan Ram and Shashi Bala Sharma. The investigators first visited Mahakalapada police station, where they recorded the statement of then Inspector-in-Charge Manas Kumar Mallick and other police personnel.
The team later went to the Mahakalapada block office and questioned BDO Rabi Narayan Acharya and other staff. Investigators subsequently visited Ojha at her residence in Tikhiri and recorded her statement, along with accounts from local villagers.
The inquiry is expected to continue for four days. The NHRC team is expected to meet the Kendrapara district collector, superintendent of police and other officials. Statements from witnesses, doctors at the district headquarters hospital, local residents and others connected with the case are also expected to form part of the inquiry.
Investigators may also examine official documents and video footage connected with the incident, including material available on record and accounts from eyewitnesses.
The dispute appears to have centred partly on development work and pending payments in Tikhiri gram panchayat.
Ojha had earlier written to Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi alleging that officials were hindering development work by withholding payments to people who had carried out work in the panchayat.
According to her account, she went to the BDO’s office on June 11 to seek clearance of those pending bills. She later alleged that she was abused at the office and that police mistreated her while taking her to the police station.
However, there is also a case against Ojha arising from the same episode.
A case was registered on the complaint of the Mahakalapada BDO, with reported charges including attempt to murder, causing hurt and obstructing a public servant. Police have told the NHRC that three FIRs were registered in connection with the incident and described them as cross-cases.
That part of the case is important because the current NHRC inquiry involves competing accounts. While Ojha has made allegations against officials and police, the administration and police have also made allegations concerning her conduct during the incident.
The NHRC is therefore examining the matter from more than one side.
The commission had earlier sought a report from the Kendrapara district magistrate and superintendent of police regarding the matter.
A petition was also filed before the NHRC alleging that Ojha had been falsely implicated in the criminal case registered on the BDO’s complaint. The petition prompted the commission to seek an official report before undertaking the present ground investigation.
The significance of the current inquiry is that investigators are now speaking directly with people connected with the case rather than relying only on written complaints.
Statements from police officers, block officials, Ojha, villagers, witnesses and doctors can be compared with official records and other available evidence. If video footage or medical records are available, those can also help investigators assess the competing accounts.
For now, the NHRC has not announced a final finding on whether the allegations of assault or mistreatment are proved.
That distinction is important in reporting the case. A complaint is an allegation; an NHRC inquiry is an investigation; and a final finding would require the competent authority to assess the evidence.
The case has attracted attention because it involves an elected gram panchayat representative, government officials and police, while also involving allegations about the functioning of local development work.
But the immediate question before the NHRC is narrower and more concrete: what actually happened on June 11, and what does the available evidence show?
The commission’s investigators are now collecting that evidence on the ground in Kendrapara.
Until the NHRC completes its inquiry and makes its findings known, the allegations from either side should be treated as allegations rather than established facts.
