Bhubaneswar: The seven engineering students, who were arrested on Saturday for allegedly assaulting an Army officer and harassing his fiancée in Bhubaneswar, have been granted bail by a local court.
According to sources, the JMFC Court in Bhubaneswar granted bail to all the seven accused in the case four hours after their arrest. Chandaka Police had arrested them earlier in the day and produced them in the court.
They were apprehended on the basis of CCTV footage and a car used in the alleged road rage incident was also seized.
According to the police complaint, over 12 people travelling in three cars intercepted the vehicle of the Indian Army officer near Patharagadia in the city in the late hours of September 15 when he along with his his fiancée were returning home after closing the woman’s restaurant.
The hooligans allegedly hurled abuses at the Army officer and passed lewd comments on his fiancée. They also dragged the officer and thrashed him when he tried to resist.
The couple somehow managed to escape and rushed to Bharatpur police station to lodge a complaint against the miscreants at around 2 am and urged the officials to depute a police control room (PCR) van to arrest the miscreants.
The couple alleged that Bharatpur police subjected them to torture instead of acting on their complaint. As per the complaint, the cops put the fiancée of the army officer in the custody and tortured her. It has been alleged that the police officials sexually assaulted her in the custody.
Also Read: Seven Arrested For Attacking Army Officer & Fiancée In Bhubaneswar
Meanwhile, the accused have also denied physically touching the officer’s fiancée. They instead alleged that the Army officer was driving recklessly and hurled abuses at them as they overtook their vehicle. “The woman made some indecent gestures from the car. We had an argument with the Army officer over the issue. We have been falsely implicated in the case,” one of the arrested student told reporters.
The students have been booked under Sections 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 115 (2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 117 (2) (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 296 (obscene acts), and 3(5) (joint criminal liability) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
