Cuttack, Nov. 5: The crime branch has decided to come up with an action plan to prevent witch-hunt and superstition related atrocities that are on a rise in various parts of the state.
Keonjhar and Nabarangpur districts have emerged as a hotbed of witchcraft practices in the state, especially in the past two years. Of the total 54 registered cases of witchcraft and related crimes as well as violence till September, 15 cases have been reported from Keonjhar and 13 from Nabarangpur. The number of cases is likely to cross 75 by the end of this year, said special director-general of police (crime branch) B.K. Sharma. Last year, 58 similar atrocities had been reported.
The crime branch today instructed police officers of districts, such as Rayagada, Ganjam and Nayagada, to remain alert and strengthen their intelligence network to prevent witchcraft related offences.
The police have been asked to launch a crackdown on "witch doctors" and quacks engaged in practising or promoting black magic in tribal and rural parts of the state.
At a one-day workshop-cum-training programme on the Odisha Prevention of Witch Hunting Act, 2013, the crime branch today proposed for cash rewards to the people, who would report witchcraft incidents at district levels. "We are now focusing on taking preventive measures, registration of cases, investigation and creating awareness to tackle witch-hunt and superstitious incidents. Awareness campaigns will also be launched in schools in the rural areas in the coming days," said Sharma.
Sharma informed The Telegraph that instructions had been made to police officials to ensure that atrocities and crimes related to black magic and sorcery were taken up on a priority basis.
"The training programme was conducted for the second time by the crime branch to sensitise police officers about the act, as a number of cases were being registered under several Indian Penal Code sections, including assault and murder, for such offences," Sharma said.
Official sources said 296 persons had been killed in separate incidents of witch-hunt and superstition related crimes in the past five years in the state, which ranks second in the country in witch-hunt murders after Jharkhand.
According to the data available with the National Crime Records Bureau, some 2,257 witchcraft murders have taken place in the country since 2000. Some 32 murders because of witch-hunt was reported in Jharkhand, while 26 persons were killed in Odisha last year.
