Army officer’s fiancee shifted to AIIMS after ‘assault’ at police station, Odisha court takes stern view

The court also granted bail to the petitioner on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 30,000 with two local solvent sureties.

As her bail plea was earlier rejected by a lower court, the High Court also observed that “the learned magistrate has failed to apply his/her judicial mind and has acted in a mechanical manner”.

During the hearing, the counsel appearing for the petitioner stated that the petitioner was brutally assaulted by the police personnel at Bharatpur station, as a result of which she has sustained grievous injury. On the basis of the verbal order of the Orissa high court on Tuesday, the victim was shifted to AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, where she was undergoing treatment.

The petitioners counsel also stated that the Petitioner, who is a young lady and practising lawyer and happens to be the daughter of a Brigadier of the Indian Army, had come to the police station to lodge a complaint road rage complaint.

“However, instead of registering the complaint, the police personnel present in the P.S. started misbehaving and assaulting the petitioner and her fiance Major Guruvansh Singh Ghosal and they both were kept in police lock up for several hours illegally,” the counsel argued.

The court, in its order, also stated that taking into consideration the seriousness and gravity of the allegation, it appears that “the allegations are very serious in nature.”

Even as a probe has already been ordered into the incident, DGP Y B Khurania on Wednesday suspended five police personnel, including the inspector-in-charge of the Bharatpur police station, a sub-inspector, two women ASIs and a constable.

Meanwhile, hundreds of ex-servicemen staged a protest in Bhubaneswar, demanding a strict action against the erring police personnel and seeking a judicial inquiry.