Man forced to pay Rs 30,000 to ‘kangaroo court’ by mortgaging his land in Odisha village

A ‘kangaroo court’ forced a man to mortgage his land and pay a fine of Rs 30,000 in the presence of the Sarpanch in Odisha’s Balasore district. The incident was reported from Bhalukasuni village under Nilagiri police limits. According to the complaint, a water tank was stolen from the village forest committee building on September 1. The missing tank was later reportedly recovered from the house of villager Debendra Singh. Bike Kept As Security Following the recovery, a meeting was allegedly convened in the village at night. The complainant claimed that the meeting was held in the presence of the Sarpanch and that Debendra was ordered to pay a fine of Rs 30,000. As he was unable to arrange the money immediately, Debendra allegedly had to leave his motorcycle with the village committee as security. The matter took a more serious turn after Debendra reportedly mortgaged his land to arrange the Rs 30,000 demanded by the committee. After paying the amount, he was allegedly allowed to take back his motorcycle. Complaint Lodged Questions are now being raised over the authority of the village committee to impose such a penalty and allegedly retain a person’s vehicle until the payment was made. A written complaint has been lodged at Nilagiri Police Station over the incident. Police are expected to examine the allegations and ascertain the circumstances under which the village meeting was held and the fine was imposed. The response of the Sarpanch and the village committee to the allegations is awaited.