Bhubaneswar: July 13: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Human Rights Protection Cell (HRPC) has been set up at the State Police Headquarters in Cuttack to probe the death of six tribals by the security personnel in Kandhamal district. The SIT will be headed by the ADG, HRPC Cell, Mahendra Pratap, who will supervise and monitor investigation. Government of Odisha has issued a notification in this regard, Special Secretary, Home Lalit Das informed Media Persons today. He said the state government has asked the Director General of Police (DGP) and the IG to constitute the SIT and choose the officers to be included in the team for investigation.
Notably, chief minister Naveen Patnaik had announced on July 11 regarding the formation of SIT to probe the Kandhamal killings to ensure a thorough and impartial probe into the incident. Terming the incident ‘ most unfortunate’, the chief minister had said his government is always concerned for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe and other deprived sections of the society and has taken the incident seriously.
