Bhubaneswar: Director General of Police YB Khurania today suspended five police officials including the Inspector in Charge (IIC) of Bharatpur police station for allegedly manhandling an army major and his fiancée.
According to an order issued by the DGP, the suspended police officials are IIC Dinakrushna Mishra, sub-inspector Baisalini Panda, two women ASIs Salilamayee Sahoo & Sagarika Rath and constable Balaram Hansda.
Mishra, Salilamayee and Balaram, have already been transferred to Bhubaneswar DCP office on Tuesday following the allegation levelled on the police by the army major.
“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.
Meanwhile, several retired Army personnel marched in a rally from the gate of the 120th Brigade to the Office of the Commissioner of Police, demanding a judicial inquiry into the incident. They also demanded to file criminal cases against all the accused involved in the incident and take stern action against them.
The DGP on Tuesday ordered a Crime Branch investigation into the alleged police assault and arrest of the female friend of Army Major Gurvansh Singh inside the Bharatpur police station. The Crime Branch inquiry was ordered after the Army intervened in the matter and took serious note of the incident.
Army Major Gurvansh alleged that the woman cops abused his female friend and dragged her inside a cell, tied her hands, and brutally assaulted her. Guruvansh further said when he protested the police action, he was also thrashed by the cops.
The Army officer alleged that he and his girlfriend were assaulted by police personnel on duty at Bharatpur police station when they approached them to register a complaint that some miscreants had harassed them while they were travelling in a car.
The Major was allegedly kept in the lockup, and his girlfriend was arrested for allegedly attacking the police personnel inside the police station and was later sent to judicial custody.
However, after the intervention of the Army, the Major was released from the police station, and a medical examination of his girlfriend was conducted following allegation that she was molested after being taken to a secluded room. Police sources said the Army Major and his girlfriend had misbehaved with the police when they were asked to register their complaint.
The police alleged that the Major was in an inebriated condition when he came to the police station to file a complaint. The Bharatpur police had registered a case against the Army Major and his girlfriend, accusing them of attacking constables and a woman sub-inspector inside the police station.
The Army Major posted at the 22 Sikh Regiment in Kolkata had also filed a complaint against the police personnel of Bharatpur police station for assaulting them inside the police station.
Meanwhile, the Orissa High Court today granted bail to the arrested female friend of the army officer and also issued a warning to the police department. Yesterday, the HC had ordered the police to provide treatment to her at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar.