Bhubaneswar: Bharatpur IIC, Four Other Cops Suspended For ‘Assaulting’ Army Officer

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

Bharatpur police station IIC Dinakrushna Mishra, SI Baisalini Panda, Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Salilamayee Sahoo, ASI Sagarika Rath and Constable Balaram Hansda have been placed under suspension for alleged reliction of duty, a senior police official said.

Earlier, IIC Dinakrushna Mishra and ASI Salilamayee Sahoo were transferred and posted to the office of DCP, Bhubaneswar, while Constable Balaram Hansda was transferred and posted to RO Bhubaneswar in this connection.

This came hours after DGP Y B Khurania ordered a Crime Branch probe into allegations and counter-allegation of assault by the cops and the army officer, and asked for withdrawal of the complaint lodged against his woman friend.

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."

Meanwhile, Deepak Kumar Khandayatray, currently attached to the Commissionerate police headquarters has been posted as the new IIC, Bharatpur police station.