Bharatpur Custody Torture Case: Odisha Govt Extends Judicial Commission’s Tenure; Replaces ‘Within 60 Days’ With….

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government has extended the tenure of the Commission of Inquiry headed by retired Orissa High Court judge Justice Chittaranjan Das, probing the alleged custodial abuse of an Army officer and his fiancée at Bharatpur police station in Bhubaneswar.

“It is felt necessary to extend the tenure of the Commission of Inquiry to inquire into the case and counter case lodged
alleging misbehaviour/assault of a woman and a serving army officer inside Bharatpur PS,” the official notification issued by the Home Department said on Friday.

The tenure of the Commission of Inquiry was initially for 2 months and it was to end on November 22. This has now been extended for another 70 days. The words ‘within 60 days’ in the September 22 notification have been substitute by ‘within January 31, 2025’, it added.

Amid a national outrage, the Mohan Majhi government had ordered a time-bound judicial probe into the incident in which a serving Army captain was allegedly manhandled and his fiancée was allegedly sexually assaulted by on-duty police personnel at the police station when they had gone to lodge a road rage complaint on September 15 night.

On November 14, the Army officer and his fiancée appeared before the judicial commission here. A total of 16 persons have been summoned and  the commission is likely to start the process of receiving testimony after verifying over 500 affidavits received in connection with the case, sources said.