Odisha lawyer, son held for murder; their outfit also under scanner: Cops

The officer said there were other complaints against the lawyer as well, many of them accusing him of arm-twisting people to join the Manavbadi Sangathan, which he reportedly described as a rationalist organisation, and following its diktat

Updated on: Sep 3, 2021, 06:22:50 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty, Bhubaneswar

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The Odisha police on Thursday arrested a high court lawyer and his son on charges of abduction and murder of a man who was once an active member of Manavbadi Sangathan but lately started to distance himself from the group founded by the lawyer, a senior Odisha police officer said.

Manas Das, 51, and his son Manoranjan Das, 25, have been arrested for the murder of Satyabrata Nayak in Cuttack district’s Abhimanpur, inspector general (IG) of police, central range, Narasingha Bhol said.

The officer said there were other complaints against the lawyer as well, many of them accusing him of arm-twisting people to join the Manavbadi Sangathan, which he reportedly described as a rationalist organisation, and following its diktat. He barred them from cremating the dead and even stopped women from wearing bangles, Bhol said.

The senior police officer said most people hadn’t complained against him as his victims were already poor and marginalised. With the lawyer and his son behind bars, police expect more people will come forward.

Satyabrata Nayak, the man who was murdered on August 1, was once a member of his organsiation but had started to move away. “On August 1 morning, a meeting was organised by some leaders of the organisation where Nayak was thrashed brutally… as he could not explain why his brother-in-law did not attend a meeting in another village. The next day, Nayak’s nephew Basant was called to the neighbouring village of Karadagadia where his body was kept on the funeral pyre in a burial ground. Basant was then forced to light the funeral pyre of his uncle,” the IG said.

Das and his son also face charges in a second case in which an old man and his son were dragged out of their house and beaten mercilessly for not joining his organisation.

“His people literally forced people to follow his weird diktats and if anyone protested they were either ostracised or thrashed,” said the IG.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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