Bhubaneswar: Police have arrested five persons for allegedly aiding BJD corporator from ward no- 45 Amaresh Jena in his escape after a rape case was registered against him on July 23.
Those arrested are Bibek Kumar Swain (29), Bikram Mohanty (42), Debendra Kumar Bhola aka Bulu (45), Suman Kumar Sahoo (27) and Rajib Champati (45).
“Five persons have been arrested and forwarded for harbouring the accused person: Amresh Jena. These 5 persons provided conveyance and assisted the accused in evading apprehension. They have been arrested and forwarded U/S-64(2)(m)/89/296/351(2)/61(2)/249/3(5) BNS r/w Sec- 6 POCSO Act,” a police release said on Saturday.
The development came even as the government ‘terminated’ the appointment of Amaresh’s elder brother, Samaresh Jena, as Additional Standing Counsel in the office of the Advocate General.
Meanwhile, police have formed multiple teams to trace the corporator.
On July 23, a 19-year-old girl lodged a complaint accusing Jena of sexually exploiting her since September 2023, when she was a minor, on the pretext of marriage. She further alleged that the corporator convinced her to terminate her 2-month pregnancy in February last year, promising that he would marry her after getting a divorce from his wife. He, however, began to avoid her from April this year and threatened to kill her unless she leaves the city. The girl had also threatened self-immolation if no action was taken on her complaint.
Jena had refuted the allegations.
A case was filed under BNS Sections 64(2) (rape), 89 (committing miscarriage without woman’s permission), 296 (obscene act), and 352 (criminal intimidation), besides Section 6 of the POCSO Act, at the Laxmisagar police station, and recorded her statement under Section 183 of the BNSS.
