Naveen Patnaik demands judicial probe into Army officer assault case

Former Odisha chief minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJC) chief Naveen Patnaik on Friday criticised the Mohan Majhi government in the state over the alleged assault on an Army officer and his fiancée at Bharatpur police station of Bhubaneswar and demanded a judicial inquiry into the matter.

Addressing reporters at the BJD office in Bhubaneswar, the leader of the Opposition said the police action towards the Army personnel and his fiancée was shocking’.

“All of you heard what recently happened to an Army officer and his fiancée at a police station here in Bhubaneswar. This is very shocking news of the violence that was meted out to both of them and the alleged sexual assault on the officer’s fiancée. We demand a full judicial inquiry into this matter and action must be taken very quickly. I demand a court monitored SIT probe and a judicial inquiry into this grave incident against an Army Major and the lady,” Patnaik said.

He said during his government in the Mo Sarkar system, chief minister, other ministers and senior officers would call the citizens to take feedback on their visits to government offices including police stations and hospitals, whether they were treated with dignity and professional conduct. “This BJP government has immediately stopped the pro-people initiative of Mo Sarkar, and the consequences are visible,” he said.

“The day the BJP government refused to take action against the governor’s son on a serious case of assault, others got emboldened. I still urge for action to be taken by this government against the governor’s son,” he said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however slammed Patnaik, with revenue minister Suresh Pujari asserting the atrocities would not have happened had the former CM and his government worked efficiently.

“The BJD government led by former CM Naveen Patnaik was in power for 24 years. Had it worked efficiently, the state would have become violence-free and a developed state. The former CM Naveen Patnaik had set up model police stations. Our BJP government will try to create model police officers. What happened in Nayagarh Pari case or Bebina case? Hundreds of women were tortured, and allegations were levelled against BJD leaders, but no action was taken,” said Pujari.

Pujari said the BJP government is having a zero-tolerance attitude towards atrocities against women and the government will take stringent action no matter how powerful an individual is. “A judicial probe is ordered when the matter is complex. There has been atrocity against a woman and here it is important to ensure that the culprits should be punished. During Naveen Patnaik’s rule, 24 judicial commissions were set up. Till now not a single commission report has been made public,” he said.

Meanwhile, the general officer-commanding in chief of Madhya Bharat area, Lt Gen PS Shekhawat wrote to the chief justice of Orissa high court, justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh requesting him for suo motu intervention in the case.

“The prestige of a serving Army Officer was demeaned and the modesty and dignity of his fiancée, who also happens to be the daughter of a retired Brigadier, was grossly outraged by the police authorities. The police officers on duty acted in a manner unbecoming of their position. They not only humiliated the lady but also molested her and also disrespected the Army Officer by putting him under custody without any charge for almost 14 hours. The medical inspection of the lady also indicates grave injuries, which point to manhandling by the police personnel. The Bharatpur Police Station does not have a CCTV installed which is violative of Supreme Court’s directions. The police actions and their purported statements are manipulative and aimed at concealing the police brutality on the lady and the officer,” he wrote.

The state CID has already registered a criminal case against former Bharatpur police station inspector Dinakrushna Mishra, sub-Inspector Baisalini Panda, woman assistant sub-inspectors Salilamayee Sahoo and Sagarika Rath, and constable Balaram Hansda in connection with the alleged assault. CID officials said all five are likely to be arrested on Friday.