Bharatpur Incident: Justice Chittaranjan Dash Submits Probe Report To CM Mohan Majhi

Bhubaneswar: Justice Chittaranjan Dash on Tuesday submitted the Judicial Commission probe report on the Bharatpur police station incident, to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi at Lok Seva Bhawan here on Tuesday.

This came a day after the panel headed by the retired Orissa High Court judge submitted the 282-page report to the Home department after examining 525 affidavits and questioning five persons.

The BJP government had set up the commission on September 22, 2024, following nationwide protests over the alleged torture of an Army officer and his fiancée at Bharatpur police station in Bhubaneswar on September 15, 2024. The commission was told to file its report within 60 days but its tenure was later extended till January 31, 2025.

The panel began its inquiry on October 1, 2024.

According to sources, the report is likely to be approved by the cabinet before it is placed in the Assembly during the ongoing budget session.

The Incident

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 then 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. The couple managed to escape and rushed to Bharatpur police station to lodged an FIR against the miscreants. They 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.

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 for treatment.

As the incident triggered a nationwide outrage, the state government suspended five police officers, 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.