Hearing on IO's grounds of handcuffing accused begins

The hearing on the report of justifiability for handcuffing Dhalasamant brothers, allegedly mafia dons, in public filed by the investigating officer (IO) remained inconclusive in a local court today as the public prosecutor sought some more time to get instructions from the government.
Debendra Kumar Biswal, a sub-inspector of Chauliaganj police station and the IO in the case, had submitted a report to the SDJM court detailing the grounds for which the brothers were made to walk in handcuffs in a residential colony here on February 27 where they had been taken for the purpose of investigation during police remand.

Objecting to the grounds stated by the IO, the brothers' advocate Soura Chandra Mohapatra argued that the police action was in violation of settled principle of law of custodial jurisprudence as mentioned in various decisions passed by the Supreme Court earlier.
"The Supreme Court in a judgment in 1979 had said that indiscriminate resort to handcuffs is illegal and shall be stopped forthwith, save in a small category of cases where an undertrial has a credible tendency of violence and escape," he said.
He said the burden of proof of the ground is on the custodian as stated by Orissa High Court last week in its order while disposing of a petition filed by the State government.

The matter would be taken up again on Thursday.
In the meantime, apprehending law and order situation in Choudwar jail, where the brothers are currently lodged in judicial custody, the police have made an application to the SDJM court seeking permission to transfer the two brothers to separate jails in the State.
In another development, city police today arrested a wanted criminal Antaryami Sahu, brother of a BJD corporator, from Chauliaganj area alleging he is an associate of Dhalasamant brothers and has been involved in extortion cases.