Kendrapada: A criminal case has been registered against suspended Inspector of Police Sandhyarani Jena, who was in-charge of Talachua Marine Police Station in Odisha’s Kendrapada district, for allegedly assaulting a woman and her son in custody.
Sources said the case was filed at Talachua Marine Police Station itself. Further investigation is underway.
The criminal case was slapped days after Director General of Police (DGP) Y B Khurania ordered her suspension. The suspended officer has been booked for offences under several serious sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The incident has drawn significant attention, with allegations that the officer physically assaulted the mother-son duo while they were in custody.
The suspension order, issued by the Police Headquarters, cited gross misconduct and dereliction of duty. During the suspension period, Jena will remain under the disciplinary control of the Inspector General of Police, Central Range, Cuttack.
The action came following serious allegations of custodial torture and police excess surfaced against personnel at Talchua Marine Police Station. A mother-son duo from Giriapahi village— Annapurna Mandal (55) and her son Ananta Kumar Mandal (31) – alleged that they were summoned to the station on May 25 in connection with a family dispute.
This followed a complaint lodged by Annapurna’s husband Manoranjan Mandal at the police station on Sunday over a family dispute involving his wife and son.
According to the complaint filed with the Pattamundai SDPO, Annapurna claimed that IIC Jena abused her, dragged her by the hair, slapped her, and wiped off her sindoor. She also alleged that her son was taken inside a toilet, brutally beaten by the IIC and a constable, and nearly strangled. The two claimed they were detained from around 6 pm to 11:40 pm, forced to sign blank papers, and threatened not to disclose the incident. Their mobile phone was also allegedly seized.
The mother-son duo reportedly sustained multiple injuries and was later admitted to Rajnagar community health centre (CHC). Medical examination reportedly revealed injury marks on Annapurna’s hands and Ananta’s neck, hands, legs and back.
This is not the first time Jena has faced suspension for alleged misconduct. In previous incidents, including cases from Keonjhar and Jharsuguda districts, she was suspended for issues such as using third-degree methods on a youth and shifting bodies of accident victims to another police station’s jurisdiction.
