How An Officer With ‘Questionable Record’ Was Given Charge Of A Model Police Station In Bhubaneswar?

Bhubaneswar: The ex-Inspector-in-charge (IIC) of Bhubaneswar’s Bharatpur police station, currently in the eye of storm, has a ‘past’. In November 2022, he was filmed on a mobile camera while allegedly demanding money from a Balijatra cycle stand lessee.

The IIC in question, Dinakrushna Mishra was then posted at Cantonment police station in Cuttack Urban Police District.

After the alleged extortion attempt video went viral on social media with opposition parties and local traders baying for blood Mishra was transferred to the DCP’s office.

Bharatpur In Bhubaneswar To Have A Police Station

Meanwhile, Odisha police set up a new police station at Bharatpur under Bhubaneswar Urban Police District jurisdiction which was sanctioned in August 2020.

The then Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated Bharatpur police station building in December 2020, and Mishra who had been shunted to a non-policing job was rewarded with the charge of this swanky and hi-tech ‘Model’ police station.

Under what circumstance and how Mishra deemed fit or suited a crime prone area as Bharatpur on outskirts of Bhubaneswar, remains to be answered.

“High-handedness and intimidation cannot go hand in hand. The IIC and his team’s bullying tactics had to come to the fore. The staff at Bharatpur police station worked autonomously caring two hoots for the general public. The mental status of aggrieved people worsened if they approached staff and officers of this newly built police station,” a youth whose motorcycle was stolen from the parking of a hospital under Bharatpur police limits said.

The youth who did not want to be named said that his father was hospitalised when the two-wheeler was stolen leaving him distraught.

“Chakiri Kariba polici macha khaiba Ilisi (translates to – ‘Do a police job and enjoy Hilsa fish’), fits here totally,” the youth who was went through mental torture to have a complaint filed at Bharatpur police station, said.

And now the (erstwhile) captain of Bharatpur police station and his team have hogged headlines, not local but national, for all wrong reasons.

For allegedly assaulting an army officer and his female friend, Mishra and four of his colleagues have been suspended by Odisha’s DG Police YB Khurania.

Besides, the Odisha Crime Branch on Thursday registered a case of sexual assault against the suspended IIC and other cops for allegedly assaulting an Army officer and molesting his fiancée in custody on September 15.

It remains to be seen how the CID-CB probe progresses and if the agency unearths truth and assists in deliverance of speedy justice to the victim/s.

Also Read: 5 Bhubaneswar Cops Suspended In Army Captain ‘Custody Assault’ Case