Odisha CM orders judicial probe into police assault on Army Major and his fiancée
Probe Commission requested to submit report in 60 days; HC to monitor ongoing CB probe
BHUBANESWAR, SEPT. 23: In a late evening development Sunday, Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi ordered a judicial probe into the high-profile Bharatpur police assault case.
Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash of High Court of Orissa will probe into the case. The CM has requested the judicial probe body to submit its report to the Odisha government in 60 days.
The CM also urged the court to monitor the ongoing Crime Branch probe into the case.
The CM’s judicial probe came after he returned from a three-day trip to his home district Keonjhar and held a high-level meeting with two of his deputy CMs — Kanak Vardhan Singhdeo and Pravati Parida — senior Cabinet colleagues and Advocate General Pitambar Acharya.
On the night of September 14, an Army Major and his fiancée were allegedly brutally assaulted by cops of the Bharatpur police station in Bhubaneswar, when the approached to lodge a complaint against some stalkers who harassed and abused them while returning home.
While the Army Major – Gurvanash Singh — was allegedly thrown into the police lockup, his fiancée was “framed’ on the charges of assaulting the cops and sent to jail.
The matter has become a serious political issue with opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Congress attacking the Odisha’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government alleging that it was protecting the accused.
The BJD has called for Bhubaneswar bandh on Tuesday.
Five cops, including the Inspector-In-Charge of Bharatpur police station — Dinakrushna Mishra, have been suspended in the assault case.
The Indian Army has taken up the assault on Gurvansh and his fiancée very seriously.
The Indian Army reacted strongly to the incident of assault on the Major and his fiancée. In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the Army’s Surya Command stated, “The Indian Army takes a serious view of the manhandling of an officer at Bharatpur police station. Necessary action is being taken with state authorities.”
The BJD has called for Bhubaneswar from 6 am to 1 pm on Tuesday.
The General Officer-Commanding in Chief of Madhya Bharat area, Lt Gen PS Shekhawat has written a letter to the Chief Justice of High Court of Orissa, Chakradhari Sharan Singh, requesting him for suo motu intervention in the alleged police torture of Army Major Major Gurvansh Singh and “sexual harassment” of his fiancée at Bharatpur police station, Bhubaneswar, on the night of September 14.
-DC
