BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Police on Monday revoked suspension of four out of the five police personnel who were accused of assaulting an army officer and his fiancée at Bharatpur police station on September 14 night last year.
The State Police Headquarters in Cuttack had on September 18 suspended former Bharatpur IIC Dinakrushna Mishra, SI Baisalini Panda, ASIs Salilamayee Sahoo and Sagarika Rath, and constable Balaram Hansda over alleged gross misconduct.
In an official notification issued on the day, the State Police Headquarters stated that SI Baisalini Panda, ASIs Salilamayee Sahoo and Sagarika Rath and constable Balaram Hansda were released from suspension with immediate effect.
However, it did not mention the reason behind withholding the suspension of Dinakrushna. The incident had snowballed into a major controversy after allegations surfaced that the army man and his fiancée had been manhandled and humiliated instead of addressing their complaint related to alleged harassment by a group of youths.
Widespread condemnation followed and the Defence establishment as well as ex-servicemen communities threw their weight behind the officer and his partner. DGP YB Khurania had then ordered a Crime Branch probe into the incident.
Commissionerate Police, however, maintained that the two had misbehaved with onduty police personnel at Bharatpur police station. With pressure mounting, the state government had appointed a commission of inquiry headed by Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash to probe the alleged assault on the army officer and his fiancée. As part of the investigation, Dinakrushna, Baisalini, Salilamayee and Sagarika were taken to SFSL in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar for lie-detection tests.