3 min readBhubaneswarUpdated: Jun 2, 2026 01:02 PM IST
The death of a person with disabilities has sparked allegations of custodial torture in Odisha’s Ganjam district, with his family alleging he was illegally detained, making it the third allegation of police excess in the state in the past week.
The family of 32-year-old Sushant Sahu from Subalaya village claimed he and another relative, Iswar, were picked up on May 25 over a dispute at a stone quarry where they worked. The family claimed Sahu was kept in police custody for a week.
Police said in a statement that the services of a trainee IPS officer, who was in charge of the Kabisuryanagar police station, have been “withdrawn”.
“While Iswar was formally arrested and produced in court, Sushant was illegally detained by the police and tortured to death. They poured hot water on him and used red chilli powder,” his wife Mamajini Sahu alleged. His family said Sahu was disabled in one leg.
Mamajini said the family received a call at 8.30 pm Sunday asking them to pick up her husband. By then, he was already in a serious condition, they claimed.
“When his father and brother objected to taking him home in that condition, the police threatened them and forced them to sign a blank paper. We called an ambulance and rushed my husband to the nearest hospital at Aska. As his condition was serious, doctors referred him to MKCG Medical College and Hospital, where he was declared dead at 1.30 am,” Mamajini said.
She claimed that her husband was healthy when he was picked up and questioned why he was detained when his name was not mentioned in the FIR.
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Bal Gopal Behera, the medical officer at Aska, confirmed that Sahu was in a serious condition when he was brought to the hospital.
When contacted, Ganjam Superintendent of Police Harisha B C said that all allegations against the police would be independently investigated. “Appropriate action will be taken against those found guilty,” the SP told The Indian Express.
The director general of police (DGP) has also ordered the Human Rights Protection Cell (HRPC) of Odisha Police to probe the allegations of custodial torture and unnatural death.
Two other cases of alleged police excess have been reported in Odisha over the past week. A woman police inspector was suspended last week over allegations of custodial torture of a mother and son in Kendrapada district. Earlier, the inspector-in-charge of Barang police station in Cuttack was removed from his post following allegations of assaulting a youth in custody, who is battling for life at SCB Medical College in Cuttack.
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According to a reply by the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs in March, at least 18 custodial death cases were registered in Odisha between April 2021 and March 2026, including nine in 2025-26.
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