Bhadrak: The Odisha Police Wednesday suspended an assistant sub-inspector on the charge of negligence while dealing with a minor girl’s abduction case.
SP Manoj Raut ordered the suspension of the ASI of Dhamnagar police station, after he “failed to trace the victim or the accused for nearly two months”.
June 17, a 22-year-old man along with two accomplices, had allegedly abducted the schoolgirl from Kankara village in Dhamnagar area, police said.
Her mother lodged an FIR the same day, and the ASI was assigned as the investigating officer.
“There was, however, no breakthrough for 55 days. The victim was finally rescued August 11 by a special Dhamnagar police squad from a rented house in Keonjhar district during a late-night operation,” an officer said.
Frustrated over the delay, the girl’s family had also approached the Orissa High Court. The court had summoned both the Dhamnagar IIC and the investigating officer to appear in person August 11, seeking an explanation for the delay and the investigation progress.
Following the court’s intervention, Raut issued the ASI’s suspension order, citing dereliction of duty.
The rescued minor, after a medical check-up, has been kept at a Bhadrak shelter home for care and counseling.
PTI