Gujarat police beats Odia youth to death in Surat amid lockdown!

Bhubaneswar: An Odia youth in his 30s has allegedly been beaten to death by Gujarat police last evening for reportedly violating social distancing norms during COVID19 lockdown.

The deceased identified as Satya Swain from Kullada village under Bhanjanagar in Odisha’s Ganjam district was working in Gujarat since last couple of years.

On Thursday evening, a group of Odia workers were loitering outside the premises of the multi-storeyed house at Anjani Industries Estate. When police van reached the spot, they dispersed into their respective rooms.

“Around 5-6 men in uniform broke the lock, gate and entered into the complex. The cops went upto the fifth floor and beat up indiscriminately. The ambulance arrived at around 7 PM. By then, Satya was already dead,” said brother-in-law of the deceased.

The Odia workers were staying at Plot No 158 in Lane No 1 of Anjani Industries Estate area in Surat.

“Police were driving away people who were outside. We were sitting outside on the ground floor of our house. Seeing this, we went inside and locked the shutter. Police broke the lock and entered inside. After a while, around 10-12 policemen came to our room. They beat up whoever was present there and took us to Amroli police station,” a roommate of the deceased expressed.

“Satya was even beaten downstairs while he was being taken to the police station,” he added.

Reports said that Satya succumbed to injuries while being taken to hospital in an ambulance.

According to sources, scores of migrant workers had assembled in front of the local police station to get themselves registered which is mandatory for train travel to their respective states.

Police reportedly drove away the people around the police station area in a bid to manage the crowd.

The youth hailing from Ganjam district is survived by wife and a five-year-old mentally challenged son.