Bhubaneswar: The Kharvelnagar police on Friday arrested a 55-year-old senior Odisha Administrative Officer (OAS) on charges of sexually abusing his junior female colleague in the state Commerce and Transport Department.
The accused, identified as Arun Kumar Biswal, is a resident of Kujanga area in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha. He is reportedly posted as the Additional Secretary in the Transport Department, while the victim, an unmarried woman, also works in the same department on a contractual basis.
“The accused entered the woman’s house late Thursday night and physically abused her there. He also tried to sexually abuse the victim, who later called the police over the phone. Upon being informed, the PCR staff reached the rental house of the victim and brought Arun to the police station,” said Debendra Kumar Biswal, the Inspector In-charge of Kharvelnagar police station.
Subsequently, the victim woman lodged a written complaint at Kharvelnagar police station in this regard. Based on the complaint, police registered a case (No. 657/2026) under 109(1), 115(2), 296, 351(2), 351(3), 64(2)(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, over charges including attempt to murder, raping of a subordinate woman staff by a public servant, etc.
Biswal further stated that police later launched an investigation into the matter and collected CCTV footage from the spot and other digital evidence. The statement of the victim has also been recorded by the police.
The police also informed that the girl is undergoing immense mental trauma following the incident. The accused Arun allegedly proposed to the victim and is accused of having physical relations with her on several occasions in the past by threatening her. The accused has reportedly managed to keep some objectionable images and videos of the girl on his mobile phone and has been forcing her to keep sexual relationship with her for the past seven to eight months.
IANS
