Bhubaneswar, May 21: A group of people caught a man from Rasulgarh for allegedly kidnapping a girl from East Midnapore district in Bengal. But when they approached the officials of three police stations in the city, none of them agreed to register their complaint.

Frustrated, they dragged, kicked and beat up the man in full public view near Kharavela Nagar police station this afternoon. Senior police officials, including assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Pradeep Pattnaik and inspector in charge of the police station Manoj Samant emerged from the police station in a van, saw them beating up the man but did not alight from their vehicles, nor make inquiries or take steps to stop the violence.

After around 45 minutes, when a large number of onlookers had gathered and media persons had rushed to the spot, two youths from the mob dragged the 32-year-old man into the police station compound. Officials inside the police station then rescued the man and dispersed the mob.

“This man kidnapped a 16-year-old girl from East Midnapore. We rescued the girl today after she informed her relatives staying in a slum behind Kharavela Nagar police station. We approached the Saheed Nagar police who told us to report the matter to the Mahila police. Officials at the Mahila police station said that as the missing report had been lodged in Midnapore, they would not deal with it. We then brought the accused to Kharavela Nagar police station, but the officials here also refused to register a case and told us to go to Saheed Nagar police station,” said Sheikh Nizamuddin, who was part of the mob.

The ACP said that while he was at the police station, a group of people had come with their complaint and he had asked other officials to handle it.

“I was busy with another investigation so I did not know what happened,” said Pattnaik. However, officials at Kharavela Nagar police station said that as the missing report for this case had been lodged with Contai police station in Bengal, they would consult with the officials there. “We are investigating into the matter,” said a police officer.

The accused, who identified himself as Sheikh Murataja, 32, of Digha in Bengal, had been staying in Rasulgarh for the past three years and had procured a unique identification card from here. Murtaja, a father of three children, works as a tailor in the city. Last Saturday, he allegedly kidnapped a 16-year-old student of Class X from Contai near Digha.

This morning, the girl informed her relatives staying in a slum here, following which some youths from Kharavela Nagar rescued her and caught the man. The girl said Murtaja had kidnapped her while she was on her way home from school.

“He put a handkerchief on my face. After that, I don’t remember what happened. When I opened my eyes, I found myself in Cuttack. He raped me in his house. Today, I called my aunt who stays here,” said the girl.