The alleged harassment of an army officer and the physical and sexual assault of his fiance in Odisha’s Bharatpur police station triggered a mass outrage among army officials and veterans and people across India. While the complaint has been taken up and five police officials have been suspended so far after the incident sparked uproar, this case seems to have another turn, at least on social media.
Army Vs Odisha Police
Army veterans are directly hitting out at the Odisha police for its conduct towards and army office whereas retired police officers while taking cognisance of the incident, have also highlighted the unlawful behaviour of the army officer and his fiance.
A video doing rounds on social media shows how the couple was drunk driving and engaged in a brawl with the engineering students at 02:00 am. Taking account of the video, retired police officers have asked the Indian army to take the officer to the task. They’ve even said that a course on ‘behaviour in public and public offices for army officers’ should be added to their curriculum.
General VK Singh jumped in
The virtual spat spiked manifold when retired General VK Singh, who later became the Chief of Army Staff and then a union minister in the government of India, too jumped into this social media brawl and wrote a strong post on X. He used the hashtag saying ‘shame on Odisha Police’ which added fuel to the fire.
Everyone Must listen to Ankita Pradhan, Fiancée of Army officer, Daughter of Rtd Army Officer- What happened to her in PS Bharatpur in #Odisha is shameful and horrendous. @CMO_Odisha should take immediate action against the police personnel and all who are trying to shield the…
— Gen VK Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) September 20, 2024
Former CBI director responded
Responding to Gen. VK Singh’s tweet, M. Nageswara Rao, former IPS officer and former director of the CBI wrote on X “In Bhubaneswar city, an Army officer and his fiancée consume 10 pegs of liquor and drive a car in the mid of night around 2 am, indulge in a brawl with engineering students around 2-30 am, and then land up in Bharatpur Police Station creating ruckus inside the police station, so much so that the PS staff had to seek help of PCR. When sent to hospital for medical examination and blood test which is the standard protocol of investigation, they refused.”
Dear General V K Singh Ji,
In Bhubaneswar city, an Army officer and his fiancée consume 10 pegs of liquor and drive a car in the mid of night around 2 am, indulge in a brawl with engineering students around 2-30 am, and then land up in Bharatpur Police Station creating ruckus… https://t.co/TlJzq6k52Q pic.twitter.com/3AwycGaabW
— M. Nageswara Rao IPS (Retired) (@MNageswarRaoIPS) September 23, 2024
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Emphasising that the police respect the army, Rao requested the army to take the officer to the task. He ended up his tweet with – “Finally, I request you to your good offices and ask the COAS to take this Army Officer to task for his conduct unbecoming of a soldier, and for besmirching the fair name of the Indian Army.”
