Bhubaneswar: In a significant development in the lynching of Government Railway Police (GRP) Constable Soumya Ranjan Swain, a local court has granted bail to six of the 20 people arrested in the case, citing lack of sufficient evidence against them.
The Crime Branch of Odisha Police has also dropped the names of nine accused from the chargesheet filed in the matter, stating that investigators did not find adequate evidence to establish their active participation in the lynching.
Constable Soumya Ranjan Swain, 32, was lynched by a mob near Balianta on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar earlier this year (on May 7). The incident occurred after the motorcycle he was riding as a pillion rider allegedly collided with a scooter carrying two women.
The women accused Swain of attempting to sexually assault them, which triggered a crowd to overpower him, tie him up, and beat him to death. The attack took place in broad daylight and allegedly in the presence of some police personnel, drawing widespread outrage and criticism of law enforcement.
Twenty people were arrested in connection with the case. On August 5, the Crime Branch filed a detailed 767-page preliminary chargesheet naming 11 accused before a local court in Bhubaneswar.
The charges were framed under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including those related to murder, rioting, unlawful assembly, and wrongful confinement. The agency cited substantial oral, documentary, scientific, and corroborative evidence against these 11 individuals.
The remaining nine arrested persons were not named in the chargesheet due to insufficient evidence of their direct involvement.
