Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police Wednesday filed a chargesheet against 11 people for their alleged involvement in the lynching of a GRP constable following an attempt to rape a woman on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar May 7, an official said.
Investigating Officer (IO) of the case, Ratnaprava Satapathy, a deputy SP rank officer in the CID-Crime Branch, submitted the 767-page chargesheet before the Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) court, Bhubaneswar.
Though 20 people were arrested in the case, the CID filed the chargesheet against 11 of them, as there was insufficient evidence against the remaining nine, an official said.
“Accordingly, the evidence collected during the investigation is presently insufficient to constitute a prima facie case warranting their prosecution,” the CID-CB explained in a statement.
The chargesheet was filed under various sections of the BNS, including those dealing with murder and rioting.
It was alleged that a mob tied the GRP constable Soumya Ranjan Swain to a pole and assaulted him, leading to his death.
The CID-CB said that the investigation has been kept open in the lynching case to facilitate the collection of additional evidence, receipt and examination of pending forensic reports, and probe into other leads.
The official said that the investigation is continuing on priority, and efforts are underway to apprehend the remaining identified persons involved in the incident.
“Appropriate supplementary chargesheets, if warranted by further evidence, will be submitted before the competent court in accordance with law,” the official said.
The local Balianta Police Station was investigating the matter initially. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi later ordered the CID-Crime Branch to take over the probe, keeping in view the sensitivity of the matter in which a woman accused the GRP constable of trying to sexually assault her, while the victim’s family demanded a ‘polygraph’ test of the complainant.
While the local police had arrested 11 people, the CB nabbed nine others.
The incident sparked outrage statewide, following which the Odisha Police suspended four personnel of Balianta Police Station and disengaged two home guards for alleged inaction and failure to control the mob leading to the death.
As per the complaint lodged, Swain and his associate were travelling on a motorcycle May 7 when it collided with a scooter carrying two women. It was alleged that Swain assaulted the women and attempted to rape one of them, triggering an attack by an enraged crowd. Swain later succumbed to his injuries.
The postmortem report said that there were 21 external injuries on Swain’s body. Severe trauma to multiple parts of his head caused blood clotting and swelling in the brain, which could be the cause of death. Blood clots were also found in his lungs.
Two cases were being investigated by the CID-CB. While one case was related to the murder of the GRP constable, and another concerned the alleged attempt to rape the woman.
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