Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti

Human Rights Defenders

Odisha

HRDA has issued an urgent appeal to the National Human Rights Commission of India on 15 June regarding the intimidation, abduction and wrongful incarceration of Adivasi-Dalit leaders, activists and members of the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti (NSS) by the Odisha Police. The NSS is an unregistered platform to protect the Niyamgiri forests. Residents of 12 villages in the foothills of Niyamgiri are members of this platform. They are protesting against the Vedanta mining company.

A team of NSS members travelled from Muniguda to Bhubaneswar to file a complaint petition in the regional office of the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes (NCST) on June 4, 2017 regarding the intimidation, abduction and wrongful confinement of members of the NSS by the Odisha Police. After filing the complaint petition on June 5, 2017 a few NSS members addressed a press conference in Bhubaneswar along with the family members of the persons arrested by the police on false cases and mentioned about police torture and atrocities inflicted on them. 

They told the press how the police had arrested many Adivasi leaders from the area and all are now languishing in jails on fabricated charges, like, Mr. Dasuru Kadraka, who has been picked up from a market and has been languishing in jail for more than a year charged with several false cases. It is pertinent to note that the HRDA has sent a complaint to the NHRC on arbitrary detention and torture of Mr. Dasru Kadraka (Case No. 3053/18/32/2016). This case was arbitrarily closed by the NHRC on February 2, 2017, based on a report submitted by the Superintendent of Police, Rayagada. They also alleged that police personal of the district have been threatening and illegally arresting many Adivasis in the area who speak against the government and are being accused with a number of cases.