File picture of cyclone relief materials being released for distribution in Cuttack

Cuttack, Dec. 13: Six persons, who had lodged a police complaint nearly 50 days ago, have now filed a petition in Orissa High Court seeking direction for registration of their FIR on embezzlement of cyclone relief materials.

The six petitioners, who are also residents of the city, are Ashok Kumar Samal, 57, Sakya Singh Mishra, 57, Rajkishore Singh, 58, Rabi Ranjan Sahoo, 52, Braja Kishore Biswal, 64, and Debi Ray, 66. On October 21, they filed the complaint at Purighat police station under the banner of the Cuttack Mahanagar Nagarika Committee. On October 29, they had moved the deputy commissioner of police, Cuttack, against the inaction of the inspector in charge of Purighat police station, on the complaint.

The complaint alleged cognisable offences (embezzlement of cyclone relief materials) by some of the councillors of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation.

“A case of this nature where the relief materials meant for helpless and poor were looted, plundered and misappropriated needs special attention for investigation. But it appears that the police instead of acting according to the law has looked the other way to screen the culprits,” the petition, filed through advocate Satyabrata Pradhan, alleged.

Since the police have not registered the FIR, the petitioners have moved the high court seeking direction to register cases under sections 379 (theft), 420 (cheating) and 403 (misappropriation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the councillors.

Incidentally, after the petition was filed in the high court on December 9, the state vigilance, on the same day, registered cases against four corporation officials for alleged misappropriation of relief materials.

The cases were registered against the then civic body commissioner, Nihar Ranjan Mohapatra, deputy commissioner J.M. Kujur, deputy secretary Nirmal Nayak and recovery officer Bijay Das for violating the relief code under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) of the IPC.

On October 21, chief minister Naveen Patnaik ordered a vigilance probe to ascertain allegations that some councillors had misappropriated relief materials without distributing them to the cyclone-affected people.

On the same day, Mohapatra was transferred and Kujur suspended, while the BJD expelled its Cuttack unit president Madhusudan Sahu, a councillor for allegedly encouraging party workers to take cyclone relief materials from the corporation office between October 13 and 14.