India News | Activist Prafulla Samantara Files FIR After Being 'kidnapped and Released'

Berhampur (Odisha), Aug 30 (PTI) A day after he was allegedly kidnapped by four persons from a hotel, rights activist Prafulla Samantara on Wednesday lodged an FIR in Rayagada police station seeking an investigation into the case.

Samantara, the winner of Goldman Environmental Prize-2017, said he was kidnapped from a hotel in Rayagada on Tuesday.

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"I sent my complaint to inspector-in-charge, Rayagada, through speed post and requested him to treat it as an FIR," Samantara told reporters here.

According to the rights activist, he was picked up from a Rayagada hotel by four persons around 3.40pm and later released in Berhampur city around 9.30pm.

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He added that the kidnappers snatched his mobile phones, tied both his hands and covered his face with a towel. After leaving the room, they forcibly pushed me into a car, he said.

"Even though I requested them to remove the towel from my face as I was feeling suffocated, they did not do so. They did not reveal their identities, though I made several requests," said Samantara, president of Lok Shakti Abhiyan, Odisha unit.

"I suspect they were police personnel and kidnapped me under government pressure," he added.

Rayagada police expressed their ignorance about the incident and denied allegations that Samantara might have been picked up by the policemen in plainclothes.

Samanatra had extended his support to the agitation by local tribals against bauxite mining in Sijimali and Kutrumal in Kashipur block of Rayagada district by different companies.

Samantara claimed that he had been to Rayagada to meet jailed tribal leaders but was kidnapped before a press meet scheduled at 4pm.

On August 18, Tikiri police had detained Bhala Chandra Sarangi, an activist leader, who was going to Kashipur to discuss tribal agitation against mining in the area.

“I think the government might have been behind it to suppress anti-mining agitation in the area," said Sarangi, who was also present at the press meet.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)