Bharatpur Case: Odisha CM Meets Army Officer, Woman

Bhubaneswar, Sept 23: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Monday met the Army officer and his wife-to-be, who were allegedly assaulted by cops at the Bharatpur Police Station in Bhubaneswar September 15.

The father of the woman and some retired senior Army officers were also present during the meeting held at the Lok Seva Bhawan here.

After the meeting with CM Majhi, the woman said, “Today CM Mohan Majhi has proved that he is a people’s Chief Minister in the true sense. He is in a true sense a people’s man.”

The victim’s father, who is also a retired Brigadier of the Indian Army, told media persons that the Odisha government has ordered a judicial probe and a court-monitored Crime Branch investigation into the matter, so they are hopeful of getting justice in the matter.

He also thanked CM Majhi and the government for listening to the woman and the Army officer and fulfilling all their requests.

Speaking of the viral videos related to his daughter, he said those who were guilty were releasing selective video clips aiming at character assassination of his daughter and he requested the government to take action against the people responsible for this.

Meanwhile, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan reiterated that the state government was following the policy of ‘zero-tolerance’ towards any incidents of crimes against women.

He said that after the issue came to the fore, CM Majhi constituted a minister-level committee comprising Deputy CMs KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari and himself.

The committee heard the grievances and the demands of the victim, her family and Army veterans during a meeting at the state guest house on Sunday evening.

Later, the state government took the decision to order a judicial enquiry into the matter.

Besides, the state government also requested the Orissa High Court to supervise the Crime Branch investigation into the matter.

Harichandan stated that Army veterans, the victim woman and Army officer met the Chief Minister to thank him for fulfilling their demands.

CM Majhi had on Sunday ordered a judicial enquiry presided over by retired Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash into the matter related to the alleged police custodial torture of the Army officer and the torture and alleged molestation of his fiancee at Bharatpur Police Station September 15.

(IANS)