Police Begin Probe Against Ex-Odisha Minister Raghunandan Das For ‘Unleashing Dogs’ On Woman Journalist

Bhubaneswar: Capital Police on Wednesday reached the residence of former BJD Minister Raghunandan Das in Bhubaneswar to probe the allegations that he had let his dogs loose on an on-duty woman journalist the previous day.

According to sources, the former Baikuda-Erasama MLA has been booked under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 294 (utterance of obscene words), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC on the basis of a complaint lodged by the journalist.

Chinmayee Sahoo, a journalist with local TV channel, has accused Das of releasing his dogs on her when she entered his official residence with permission for capturing some visuals of demolition of unauthorised construction in neighbouring premise, belonging to BJD organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das. 

In a video clip, the former MLA was also seen justifying his action. “Why should I not release the dog?” he asked and added that the journalist along with a cameraperson had entered his quarters without permission.

Later speaking to media, Das said the incident took place when they were busy packing after receiving a notice to vacate the quarters by July 4. “They entered the premises by pushing away the security guard and went to the extreme end of the quarters, crossing my bedrooms and that of my daughter, to capture some visuals. They also misbehaved with my cook, who questioned them after being informed by the security guard. I then told them to leave the premises since they had not taken my permission. Perhaps, they did not recognise me and retorted, saying that BJD is no longer in government. It is then that I asked my employees to release the dogs to chase them away. They got scared and left the campus,” the former Information and Public Relations Minister said.

Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has also taken cognisance of the matter on the basis of a complaint filed by Subrat Kumar Dash, state president of Nyay Pain Ladhei Parivar (MPLP).

Stating that the highly condemnable action of Das violated human rights, Subrat appealed to the OHRC to intervene in the matter and take stern action against the accused.

The petitioner has named Bhubaneswar DCP and DGP as respondents.