Assault Of Army Officer At Police Station In Bhubaneswar: Bharatpur IIC, 2 Cops Transferred

Bhubaneswar, Sep 18: Commissionerate Police transferred Bharatpur police station Inspector In Charge (IIC) and two other cops in connection with alleged assault of an army officer and 'molestation' of his woman friend at the police station in Bhubaneswar, officials said on Wednesday.

According to a notification issued by the Commissionerate Police, Bharatpur police station IIC Dinakrushna Mishra and Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Salilamayee Sahoo have been transferred and posted to the office of DCP, Bhubaneswar.

Similarly, Constable Balaram Hansda has been transferred and posted to RO Bhubaneswar.

The alleged incident took place at Bharatput police station early on Sunday morning when the army officer and his woman friend had come to lodge a complaint of road rage.

The army officer posted in West Bengal and his woman friend were allegedly assaulted by on-duty cops at Bharatpur police station when they requested to expedite the case. They also accused the police of attempting to cover up their wrongdoings by releasing a statement falsely accusing them of assaulting and misbehaving with their staff.

The army officer was allegedly kept in the lockup and his woman friend was taken to a secluded room by a female 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 complainant further alleged.

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 incidence. Necessary action has been taken up with the state authorities."

Now, the Odisha police have handed over the case to Crime Branch for proper investigation into the case, a police officer said.