Orissa High Court grants conditional bail to Army Major’s fiancée who was assaulted by police

Cuttack: Orissa High Court on Wednesday granted conditional bail to Army Major’s fiancée Ankita Pradhan who was assaulted by police at Bharatpur Police Station recently.

While conducting a hearing of the case on a special mention today, a bench of the High Court comprising Justice Aditya Kumar Mohapatra expressed its concern over the incident and granted bail to Ankita.

The apex court of the state also directed the Odisha government to provide her better treatment and bear the medical expenses. The court also directed for an impartial probe into the incident.

The court further cautioned the police not to repeat such incident in the future and focus on gaining the trust of the people. It scheduled the next hearing of the case on September 26.

Notably, Major Gurbant Singh and his fiancée Ankita Pradhan were reportedly misbehaved by some miscreants in Bharatpur police station area in ​​Bhubaneswar on Saturday midnight. Soon, they went to the police station to lodge a complaint against the miscreants.

However, instead of taking action against the miscreants, the cops of Bharatpur police station allegedly misconducted Gurbant Singh and Ankita Pradhan and attacked them, leaving Ankita injured. Cops also filed a case against the couples claiming that they attacked them. Subsequently, Ankita was arrested on charges of biting a woman police officer.

However, the matter took a new twist after the concerned Major called on the Director General of Police (DGP) Yogesh Bahadur Khurania, who directed a Crime Branch probe into the matter and transferred some cops including IIC of Bharatpur PS Dinakrushna Mmishra and SI Baisalini Panda.

Meanwhile, the DGP suspended Dinakrushna Mmishra and Baisalini Panda from service along with WASI Salilamayee Sahoo, WASI Sagarika Rath and Constable Balaram Hansda for dereliction of duty and misconduct. He suspended the cops based on the preliminary report he received from Crime Branch DSP Narendra Behera, who conducted an investigation into the matter.

A departmental disciplinary inquiry will also be conducted against the suspended cops, informed the DGP.