BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha police have ordered the Crime Branch (CB) to investigate the alleged assault of an Army officer and his fiancee in a police station in Bhubaneswar late on Saturday night.
Director General of Police YB Khurania directed the Crime Branch to take over the investigation as the issue snowballed into a huge controversy.
Allegations surfaced that the Army officer and his fiancée, who had gone to Bharatpur police station late on Saturday night to lodge a complaint, faced custodial torture.
The investigation will be carried out under the supervision of CB ADG Arun Bothra. A three-member team of the agency reportedly visited Bharatpur police station on the day to collect detailed information about the matter, said sources.
The couple had visited the police station to file a complaint against some hooligans who had misbehaved with them. However, they were allegedly manhandled by the cops in the police station.
Meanwhile, the police, on the other hand, had accused the two of misbehaviour and booked them. The Army officer’s fiancée was arrested on assault charges and produced before a magistrate on Sunday.
As the allegations and counter accusations turned into a raging controversy, the services community threw its weight behind the officer and his fiancée, seeking stringent action against the police personnel.
"CB was ordered to take charge of the investigation and they have launched a probe into the matter," DGP YB Khurania told TNIE.
The CB team could have a task at hand as it will have to rely on video recordings of the cops and the couple. While the cops recorded some videos of the Army officer and his fiancee at Bharatpur police station late on September 14 night, the woman too is believed to have recorded the incident in her mobile phone.
Bharatpur police station does not have CCTV cameras in its building. The new building of the police station was inaugurated in March this year.
"Bharatpur police registered a case against the couple. Though the Army officer has not lodged any formal complaint but from their vertical, they have been alleging that the police were not fair to them. Since allegations were against the local police, the investigation was taken over from Commissionerate Police and handed over to the CB," said sources in the State Police Headquarters in Cuttack.