Odisha Custody Assault Case: Commission Initiates Judicial Inquiry

Bhubaneswar: A week after the Odisha government ordered a judicial probe into the alleged custody assault of an Army officer and his fiancée, the Commission of Inquiry began its work on Monday.

According to sources, the commission under the chairmanship of Justice (Retd) Chitta Ranjan Dash, a former judge of the Orissa and Calcutta High Courts, initiated the process to probe the alleged assault of an Army officer and his fiancée at Bhubaneswar’s Bharatpur Police Station.

Preliminary work of the Commission commenced at the office set up in the Special Circuit House in Bhubaneswar. The probe panel is likely to issue the necessary notification and invite affidavits from different parties and those concerned.

Sources said that Director General of Police (DGP) Y B Khurania and other senior officers were present as the probe process was initiated. The state government has already given the term of reference for the Commission of Inquiry.

As the alleged custody assault episode triggered nationwide outrage, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi a week ago ordered for a judicial probe into the incident by a Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash.

The Commission has been requested to submit its report within 60 days.

In addition, the ongoing Crime Branch probe into the incident is also in progress.

Notably, the army officer and his fiancée had initially approached the Bharatpur police station on September 15 to lodge a complaint of road rage in which they were allegedly harassed by some local youths.

However, a verbal altercation took place between the couple and some police personnel following which the officer and his fiancée were allegedly assaulted at the police station. The woman was also sexually assaulted by police officials.

The woman was allegedly assaulted, molested and flashed inside the police station. In a desperate attempt to defend herself, she allegedly bit one of the officers. She was subsequently arrested for creating fracas and assaulting a woman cop. Meanwhile, the Army officer was thrown into a lockup, making him helpless and unable to intervene.

The woman was granted bail by the Orissa High Court on September 18, following which she held a press briefing and narrated her ordeal.

Besides directing for a Crime Branch probe amid the widespread outrage, the DGP had also suspended five personnel, including the IIC of Bharatpur police station on charges of gross misconduct.

The five suspended police personnel have been taken to Gujarat for conducting their polygraph tests.