‘Missing’ Odisha Activist Traced To His Home
Prafulla Samantara, the head of Loka Shakti Abhiyan and an environmental activist, reportedly vanished on Tuesday about 3:30 p.m. after apparently being picked up by four unknown guys from a hotel in Rayagada, Odisha. Samantara was eventually found at his home in Berhampur.
user1
Rayagada: Prafulla Samantara, the head of Loka Shakti Abhiyan and an environmental activist, reportedly vanished on Tuesday about 3:30 p.m. after apparently being picked up by four unknown guys from a hotel in Rayagada, Odisha. Samantara was eventually found at his home in Berhampur.
Samantara checked into the hotel at 6.30 am after coming from Bhubaneswar, and he was due to attend a news conference at another lodging establishment at 4 pm, according to reports. The 2017 Goldman Environmental Prize winner went to Rayagada to meet with those detained for protesting bauxite mining at the Sijimali and Kuturumali hills in the Kashipur block. Additionally, he intended to speak with tribal members of the Niyamgiri Surakhya Samiti (NSS), an organization that leads anti-mining efforts at Niyamgiri Hill in Kalyansinghpur and Muniguda block.
Samantara reportedly requested a ride to the conference location on a motorcycle from several local Congress party members. He was not there when the party workers returned to the motel. Later, his two mobile phones were discovered to be "switched off."
Samantara was kidnapped from the hotel by a police team under duress, according to Narendra Mohanty, state coordinator of the Campaign Against Fabricated Cases (CAFC), who also told TOI that Samantara was confined at a security camp at JK Pur, around 10 km from Rayagada. "Samantara was sent home with a police escort due to mounting pressure. All of this was carried out on the direction of the state administration to stifle the Rayagada tribals' anti-mining agitation, he continued.
Although there hasn't been a report of his disappearance, SP (Rayagada) Vivekananda Sharma told the media that the accusation will be investigated.
Tripathi Gamang, the secretary of the CPI(ML) Liberation District, has denounced the purported kidnapping of Samantara by masked police. Additionally, he has called for a quick, high-level probe into the situation.
