Cuttack: Advocate Bishnupriya Behera, who was allegedly attacked and misbehaved during a scuffle between two groups of lawyers on Orissa High Court premises Monday, lodged a written complaint against MLA Pravat Kumar Tripathy’s son and two other members of the Biju Yuva Bahini at Lalbagh police station Tuesday.
In her complaint, Bishnupriya said she was standing near the HC main gate along with some other lawyers around 11 am Monday. Suddenly, some advocates affiliated to the BJD Legal Front reached the spot and tried to enter the court premises. An argument ensued between the two factions. Taking advantage of the melee, Tripathy’s son Devi Ranjan Tripathy and his supporters including Asif Amin and Sambit Behera pushed Bishnupriya and hurled abuses at her, said the complaint.
Devi Ranjan, however, rubbished the allegation, saying the woman advocate is unknown to him. “I had gone to a place close to the HC on some work. I had no argument with the complainant whatsoever,” he said. Asif Amin and Sambit too rejected the allegation. “We neither pushed anybody nor hurled abuses at any lawyer near the HC. Allegations against us are motivated by mala fide intentions,” they said. Deputy commissioner of police Akhilesvar Singh said they will probe the allegation. “We would examine the CCTV footage,” he added.
Police commissioner Satyajit Mohanty said they will take stern action against people involved in violence on the HC premises. “We have deployed 25 platoons of armed police personnel, If required, more armed personnel will be deployed to handle the situation,” Mohanty added. Meanwhile, Odisha Police OSAP Constable, Havildar and Sepoy Confederation condemned the attack on their personnel during the scuffle Monday and demanded arrest of the culprit(s).
Submit report by Nov 9, HC tells CB
Cuttack: The Orissa High Court Tuesday directed the Crime Branch to complete the probe into alleged police excesses against lawyer Devi Prasad Patnaik and submit the report by November 9. A division bench of Chief Justice KS Jhaveri and Justice KR Mahapatra pronounced the order while hearing a PIL on the incident. The CB probe will be conducted under the supervision of Justice CR Das. The investigating officer will appraise Justice Das on the progress of the probe on a daily basis. Meanwhile, the HC Bar Association decided to continue their agitation till November 1.
