Click to play videoBhubaneswar: Senior IPS officer Vinaytosh Mishra came all the way from Bokaro, where is serving as the DIG of the CISF, to attend Independence Day Celebrations in Bhubaneswar. He was to get a medal at the ceremony but ended up feeling humiliated.
Mishra’s name was on a list of 26 police officers to be felicitated with a Police Medal for meritorious service. Mishra and his family watched his colleagues go up to receive their medals from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. But Mishra was in for a rude shock. His name was unceremoniously dropped from the list of awardees at the last minute.
"I was invited so I came here. I do not know why I was denied the award like this. After being selected it’s my right to get the award and I will get it," said Mishra.
Sources in the police say Mishra's name was dropped because of the Kalinganagar police firing incident in January 2006 in which 13 tribals were killed. Mishra was then the SP of Jajpur district and had ordered firing on tribals, who were protesting the construction of a boundary wall of the TATA steel project.
A judicial inquiry was ordered, but its report has not been submitted as yet. The Orissa government can’t explain why Mishra was denied the medal. " I have received his complaint but I myself do not know why this happened," said Ajit Tripathy, Chief Secretary of Orissa.
Sources said that a decision of this magnitude could have been taken only by Chief Minister Patnaik, who is cautious when it comes to dealing with the tribal sentiments in the state.
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