Odisha police have called for a crime branch inquiry into the alleged police assault and arrest of an Army Major Gurvansh Singh and fiance Ankita Pradhan at Bharatpur police station in Bhubaneswar.

What was the incident?

According to an official document shared by ex-servicemen on X, the couple approached the police station to register a complaint of road rage in the wee hours of September 15.

Maj Singh, 22 SIKH, resident of Delhi was on leave in Odisha to meet his fiance Pradhan, as per document. 

The police allegedly misbehaved with them and asked him to lodge a written complaint, the document states.

“I begged them to nab the miscreants first instead of waiting for the written complaint. This angered them and they started misbehaving again,” Singh alleged.

Maj Singh alleged that the woman cops abused Ankita in a verbal spat & three woman cops dragged his fiance inside a cell and disrobed her.

“They tied her hands with a cloth and assaulted her repeatedly. When I protested, a cop thrashed me too. Around 6.15 am, Dinakrushna Mishra, inspector in-charge (ICC) of Bharatpur police station, came and abused his fiance. A woman sub-inspector also allegedly disrobed her,” according to the document.

According to Singh, he was eventually ‘rescued’ afterward by a few of his Army colleagues and was taken to SUM Hospital for medical check up.

Meanwhile, Bharatpur IIC Mishra dismissed the allegations and said the duo misbehaved with the staff after reaching the police station in an intoxicated state.

Mishra blamed that Pradhan turned violent, hit lady constables, and bit a woman SI on the hand.

When asked if the police had in their possession any CCTV footage of the incident, Mishra said the police station didn't have a CCTV set up or any video recording of the assault by Pradhan.

He said Ankita was produced before a local court late night on September 16 for remand while the officer was allowed to go with a notice and his mobile phone was confiscated. 

Pradhan was booked under Section 136 (2), 115 (2), 118 (1), 296 and 351 of BNS.

Singh stated that police tampered with the evidence and took her for medical examination again, where ‘no one listened’. Pradhan was examined and a report was given to police citing ‘no major injuries’.

Following reports of the alleged torture of an Indian Army officer and his fiancée in Odisha police custody, there has been significant discourse on X (formerly Twitter) demanding a thorough and transparent investigation into the incident. 

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