Railways orders probe into detention, torture of boys by Odisha RPF

Bhubaneswar: The Railway authorities here on Wednesday ordered a probe into the alleged illegal detention and torture of two boys by RPF personnel in Odisha for seven days, officials said. “I have ordered an inquiry by senior divisional security commissioner and his officers to get the matter in detail and take appropriate action against the RPF personnel if found guilty,” Chief Security Commissioner of East Coast Railway S.K. Mishra told IANS. The officials were told to submit an action taken report by Jan 14, he said. “The boys were rescued and sent back to their homes. Further investigation was on,” Cuttack District Collector S.N. Girish told IANS. Bikash, 14, and Loknath, 12, were rescued from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) police station at Cuttack, 26 km from here, by the child protection officials Tuesday. The alleged confinement and torture came to light after some local media persons reached the RPF police station following the information provided by the victims’ families, and informed the administration. [caption id=“attachment_1328969” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  An RPF personnel. AFP.[/caption] Both the boys, residents of a city slum, told the officials that they were kept in the RPF lockup since Dec 31. “They alleged that the RPF personnel were torturing them physically and mentally,” Pragati Mohanty from the district child protection office told IANS. “We also found some injury marks on them,” she said. As per the law, no one can be arrested without a complaint and an arrested person must be presented before a court within 24 hours of his or her being taken into custody. The RPF officials said they detained the boys for stealing mobile phones and other items from the trains, but they failed to show any complaint lodged against the boys, Mohanty said. They did not even hand over the boys to Government Railway Police Force for any investigation, she said. IANS