Odia youth missing from Punjab jail, Sambalpur case against Human Rights Commission

Harishchandra Behera, son of Madha Behera, a poor man from Sonepur district who had gone to Punjab in search of work, has not returned. He was arrested on suspicious of illegally entering Amritsar airport but now he is whereabouts are unknown. He only one Earning person in the family, Harishchandra’s return is being waiting by his poor elderly parents. According to sources, Harishchandra of Nandanmal village in Binika block of Sonepur district had gone to Punjab in the hope of earning more than two rupees. According to the FIR, he was arrested on August 12, 2011 for illegally entering the premises of Amritsar Airport. He was arraigned before the Judicial Magistrate’s Court and remanded in custody in Amritsar Central Jail. After hearing the news, his poor father, Madha Behera, went to Amritsar in 2013 to visit him. He returned home empty-handed. When he went to see him for the second time, the jail authorities said no one by the name of Harishchandra Behera was present. No trace of Harishchandra has been found since then.

When Gyandatta Chauhan (a law student at Delhi University and now a lawyer) came to know about it in 2019, He gone the Punjab Human Rights Commission. Mr Chauhan’s allegations were taken seriously by the Human Rights Commission. According to Mr. Chauhan, Harishchandra was released on bail from the Amritsar Central Jail on November 11, 2013, according to information submitted to the Punjab State Human Rights Commission by the Amritsar Police Commission. However, he was later arraigned on March 9, 2017, for failing to appear in court. However, the report does not comment on the value or accuracy of the information which was allegedly leaked to third parties. If the report is true, then why would a person not have returned home despite having no criminal background? It is alleged that the ambassador provided the information to Chauhan. The trial is set to begin on May 1, 2022, he said. Harishchandra was the only earner in his family. Now her parents are facing on a lot of problem. Many officials are frustrated. They are survived by their only son, hoping to return home someday.