Assault on Army officer, fiancee: Odisha court allows polygraph test on accused inspector
Bhubaneswar, Sep 25 (IANS) In a major development in connection with the alleged assault on an Army officer and his fiancee at a police station in Bhubaneswar, a court here on Wednesday permitted the Crime Branch to carry out the polygraph and other scientific tests on the accused inspector.
Dinakrushna Mishra, the former Inspector-in-Charge (IIC) of the Bharatpur police station where the incident took place, is one of the five cops who have been placed under suspension following the allegations of assault and molestation of the victim girl.
The crime branch got the permission of the court to conduct the narco-analysis, polygraph and brain fingerprinting tests at the State Forensic Science Laboratory, Gandhi Nagar in Gujrat after the ex-IIC gave his consent for it before the court on Wednesday.
“I am innocent. I am not involved in the commission of the offences as alleged against me. I do not have any objection to undergoing narco-analysis, polygraph and brain fingerprinting tests. I am giving my consent on my own accord and free will,” Mishra told the court.
The court asked the crime branch sleuths to carry out the tests as per the Standard Operating Procedure without any delay. The investigating officials have been asked to submit the medical report to the court after the completion of these tests on Mishra.
The fiancee of the Army officer had earlier alleged that the ex-IIC Mishra had sexually harassed and molested her in a cell at the Bharatpur police station on September 15.
The court observed that these advanced scientific tests are likely to unravel the truth in the case in the absence of any eyewitness.
Meanwhile, the crime branch along with the scientific team and the Army officer and his fiancee visited the Bharatpur police station for investigation. They interrogated the accused cops at the police station and collected vital evidence. The sleuths also visited the spot under Chandaka police station where the duo was allegedly attacked by some youths on the intervening night of September 14 and 15.
On Sunday, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi ordered a judicial inquiry presided over by retired justice Chitta Ranjan Dash into the matter.
As per the reports, the Army officer, attached to the 22nd Sikh regiment in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal and his woman friend had gone to the Bharatpur police station in Bhubaneswar to lodge a complaint against some miscreants over an incident of road rage during the wee hours on September 15. Meanwhile, an argument ensued between the police and the Army officer and his friend at the police station.
The Army officer was allegedly beaten by the on-duty police officials while three lady cops dragged his fiancee into a cell of the police station where some male cops including the ex-IIC of the Bharatpur police station reportedly thrashed and molested her.
–IANS
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