Bhubaneswar: Retired Army personnel staged a protest in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday demanding strict action against police personnel who allegedly assaulted Army Major Guruwant Singh of 22 Sikh Regiment and his girlfriend Ankita Pradhan in Bharatpur police station in the capital city on the night of September 15.
Protesting police headquarters in the capital under the banner of Odisha Ex-Serviceman League, the former Army personnel demanded a judicial or CBI inquiry into the incident. Further, they said that transfer or suspension of the guilty cops was not sufficient punishment and demanded exemplary legal action against them.
Senior Army officer Lieutenant General Padam Singh Sekhawat said that the Army chief himself is monitoring the incident and action will be taken as per the law. “We cannot take the law into our hands. In my opinion, the Odisha government has taken the right action and we hope that it will take proper actions. I have spoken to the DGP and he has assured strict action against those found guilty, said Lieutenant General Padam Singh Sekhawat.
It is worth mentioning here that Major Guruwant Singh and his girlfriend were allegedly tortured in the police station late Saturday night when they approached the police with a road rage complaint. Major Guruwant Singh was lodged in the police lockup for the whole night and allegedly stripped and beaten up. The then IIC Bharatpur police station has also been accused of ‘threatening to rape’ Ankita Pradhan.
The Crime Branch is investigating the incident and five cops of Bharatpur police station, including the IIC, have been suspended.
