Bharatpur Custody Torture Case: Judicial Commission Submits Report To Odisha Govt

Bhubaneswar: The Judicial Commission headed by retired High Court Judge Justice Chittaranjan Dash which probed the alleged torture of an Army officer and his fiancée at Bharatpur police station in Bhubaneswar last year, submitted its report to the Odisha government on Monday.

As per sources, the judicial commission submitted the 282-page report to the Home Department after conducting a thorough investigation into the incident.

The probe panel handed over its report after examining as many as 525 affidavits and questioning around five persons during the inquiry that began on October 1, last year.

As per the complaint, around 12 persons travelling in three cars intercepted the vehicle of the Indian Army officer near Patharagadia in Bhubaneswar late on September 15, 2024. The army officer and his fiancée were returning home after closing the latter’s restaurant.

The miscreants hurled abuses at the army officer and passed lewd comments at his fiancée. They also allegedly dragged the army officer and thrashed him when he tried to resist. They reportedly threatened the couple of dire consequences when the army officer tried to video-record the incident in mobile phone.

The couple managed to escape and rushed to Bharatpur police station to lodged an FIR against the miscreants. The two reached Bharatpur police station at around 2 am and urged the cops to depute a police control room (PCR) van to nab the miscreants.

The couple alleged that the police personnel subjected them to torture instead of acting on their complaint. It was alleged that the police put the fiancée of the army officer in the custody and tortured her. It was also alleged that the police officials sexually assaulted her in custody.

The fiancée of the army officer reportedly bit the hand of a woman cop while trying to resist the custodial torture meted out to her.

The Bharatpur police later arrested the woman and produced her in a local court. She was sent to judicial custody after the court rejected her bail plea. The Orissa High Court, however, granted bail to the woman, who had been admitted to AIIMS-Bhubaneswar following the incident.

As the incident triggered a nationwide outrage, the state government suspended five police official, including the then Inspector In-Charge (IIC) of Bharatpur police station, in connection with the incident and ordered a Crime Branch probe. A judicial inquiry into the incident was subsequently ordered by the government.