Five Odisha Police Officers Suspended for 'Assaulting' Army Officer, His Female Friend

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police has suspended five cops including the Inspector in Charge (IIC) of Bharatpur police station in Bhubaneswar in connection with the alleged assault of an Army officer and 'molestation' of his female friend at the thana.

According to an order issued by the Director General of Police (DGP) Y B Khurania on Wednesday the five police personnel have been suspended on charge of gross misconduct.

The suspended police officers are inspector Dinakrushna Mishra, sub-inspector Baisalini Panda, two women ASIs Salilamayee Sahoo and Sagarika Rath and constable Balaram Hansda.

Mishra, Salilamayee and Balaram have already been transferred on Tuesday following the alleged assault of the army officer and his female friend.

"During the period the order remains in force, they will remain under the disciplinary control of Commissioner of Police, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and draw special allowance and dearness allowance admissible under Rule 90 of Odisha Service Code," read the police order. The Army officer posted in West Bengal and his female friend had approached the Bharatpur police station on Sunday early morning to lodge a complaint of road rage in which they were allegedly harassed by some local youths.

At the police station, the duo picked up a quarrel with cops over the registration of an FIR.

The army officer was allegedly kept in the lockup and his female friend was taken to a secluded room by a woman officer, where she was allegedly assaulted, stripped and molested.

The army officer was detained for over 10 hours before being released following intervention by Army authorities. The police, however, booked the female friend of the army officer.

Following the incident, the Central Command, Indian Army, in a post on X said, "An incident of manhandling of an Army officer by police station, Bharatpur, #Orissa has been reported in the media. #IndianArmy takes a serious view of the incident. Necessary action has been taken up with the state authorities." Speaking to media persons earlier, a police officer had claimed that the duo reached the police station in an inappropriate condition and when they were asked to lodge a written complaint about the road rage incident, they refused and instead misbehaved with the cops, including a lady cop.

Following an order from the DGP, the Crime Branch of Odisha Police on Tuesday started an investigation into the alleged assault of the Army officer and 'molestation' of his female friend at a police station in Bhubaneswar.

A five-member team of the Crime Branch led by Narendra Kumar Behera, a DSP-ranked officer, visited Bharatpur police station on Tuesday and questioned the police personnel present during the incident on early Sunday morning for over four hours and examined the case documents.

The Orissa High Court on Tuesday hearing petitions filed by the female friend of the army officer ordered the police to provide treatment to her at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar.

The high court also posted the bail application of the woman for Wednesday and directed the investigating officer along with the Inspector-in-Charge of Bharatpur police station to appear before it on Wednesday in virtual mode.

The woman's lawyer said two petitions had been filed in the high court. The first petition was a bail application and the second one was a review petition seeking quashing of the FIR registered against the woman. 

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