BHUBANESWAR: In a shocking incident of police apathy, Badagada police sat on the complaint of a 42-year-old radio jockey for 12 hours after she was misbehaved in public by two drunk miscreants on Wednesday evening.
Subhashree Patra had to take the help of women journalists to put her grievance across the senior officers as the local police kept sitting on her complaint for over 12 hours.
An RJ with a private radio channel, Patra was returning home when two bike-borne miscreants reportedly under the influence of alcohol had a head-on collision with her scooter after 6 pm in Badagada area of the city.
“I fell down and after that, the two started misbehaving with me as if the collision took place because of me. I confronted but the two continued to hurl abuses and make horrible gestures at me,” said Patra.
She called the emergency response system 112 but the PCR van did not arrive. Patra said, the miscreants even blocked her path and tried to manhandle her. The entire thing happened in full public view and caused traffic congestion in the area, she said. Only after locals intervened, she went to Badagada police station and lodged a complaint in this regard.
Patra had noted the number of the motorcycle and requested the police to trace the anti-socials and summon them for questioning. Despite the complaint, she said, there was no response from the police.
“I then shared my ordeal through a video message and sent it on a WhatsApp group comprising women journalists and other professionals. Only after the matter came to the notice of the senior officers, the local police detained the two for questioning,” said Patra.
Asked, inspector-in-charge of Badagada police station Trupti Ranjan Nayak confirmed that two men have been detained but avoided commenting on the lax response of the police.