Prasanta Kumar Dash
Bhubaneswar, Sept 28: The Bharatpur Police- Army Captain and his fiancée row in Odisha’s Capital City Bhubaneswar, never stops hurricaning the state despite a frantic exercise of the authorities of Police and Indian Army in tune with the civil societies, to pacify the issue involving the two disciplined departments, with an amicable settlement. At the same time, the Odisha government’s sincere effort to draw a peaceful solution to the legal and ethical war continuing from the wee hours of September 14, between the Odisha police Vs the Army Wing backed by Ex-servicemen veterans who stood beside the Captain and his fiancée, have also proved futile.
Following disciplinary action against as many as 5 cops, who were found responsible by the Odisha Crime Branch for allegedly attacking and humiliating a Captain and his fiancée and leaving them behind bars, the veterans of Odisha Police under the umbrella of their state-level forum came in support of the police. They alleged that the army Captain and his fiancée were fought back due to their rogue behaviour and unsocial altercations with the Bharatpur Police.
Subsequently, the matter came up as a concern for the state government and it was also sued to the Orissa High Court later, while the higher officials of Indian Army appealed the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court, to file suo moto a PIL in this connection.
Meanwhile, the Ex-Servicemen Association, Odisha Chapter resorted to a series of agitations against the Odisha Police before the Commissionerate Police, demanding criminal proceedings against the alleged cops and pressurized to lay off the cops who had allegedly put the Capatain illegally in the hazzat and attempted sexual assault to his fiancée, who is also a daughter of an Army Officer.
In view of futher outrage on the sensitive matter, the Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi intervened in the matter who asserted stern action against the unruly police. Through a slew of messages, he appealed the army veterans to wait till the findings of the Crime Branch probe, and the final report in this connection come out. On the other hand, he warned the police community to behave public with utmost cordiality when they come to police for some sort of legal assistance. However, instead of any pause in the police-public row relating the Bharatpur Police, at arm’s length from the Police Commissionerate headquarters, wreaked a political buzz across the nation. The prime opposition Biju Janata Dal(BJD) alleged that the atrocity of the Bharatpur police on the army captain and his fiancée, is a gross failure of the BJP governance and an acute state of law & order situation in the state.
As the custodial torture on the Captain and her fiancée by the Bharatpur PS cops made headlines in national media for over a fortnight, the matter attracted sheer criticism toward the Odisha Police with mixed troll on social media. While, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi elaborated the ordeal, much concerning and condemned the police for its malafide brutality to the girl and the Captain.
Taking to the social media, Rahul sought the PM and the Defence Ministers’ prompt interventions on the matter.He also urged the Indian Army Chief to take vital stance on the unlawful custody of the Captain by the Odisha Police.
Apart from the political mockery, the Bharatpur Police’s thankless job became a bone of contention afresh for the former CBI Director, M Nageswara Rao and former Chief of Indian Army Staff (COAS) Gen (Rtd.) VK Singh as they have stood in support of their peer-group fraternities.
On being aware of the cruelty of the Odisha Police towards the Army Captain and his fiancée who is also a retired army Brigadier’s daughter, General VK Singh reacted heavily and said on Twitter,” Everyone Must listen to Ankita Pradhan, Fiancée of the 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 criminals in police uniform .
Responding to it, Ex-CBI Director M Nageswara Rao taking to the social media wrote, the Captain and his fiancée’s behaviour at the Bharatpur Police Station in Odisha was neither appealing nor sociable. They were both in an extremely drunken condition, who wreaked an annoying environment on the campus. Apart from it, they drunk and drive meanwhile faced off with a group of students, reportedly quite innocent, who were later put behind bars for allegedly molesting the Captain’s fiancée and also on the charges of manhandling the Army Officer.
Apart from it, Rao wrote to Defense Minister Rajnath Singh to recommend to Court Martial the indisciplined Captain for tarnishing the glory of the Indian Army who drunk and drive late at night and wreaked havoc in the Odisha Police station after attending a pub party entertainment program.
Retired Odisha Cadre IPS Officer Rao wrote on his Twitter handle, “ With regard to the alleged drunken brawl and uncouth behaviour of an Army Officer and his fiancée in Bhubaneswar, Gen (Retd) V K Singh, former COAS and ex-Union Minister, in his post used highly inappropriate language castigating Police in general and Odisha Police in particular. When I called him out, https://x.com/MNageswarRaoIPS/status/1838111699397730396… several retired Army Officers responded with uncivilized and irrelevant comments. Later, I wrote to Defence Minister suggesting to court-martial and punish the Army Officer involved and Lt. Gen. PS Shekhawat for conduct unbecoming of soldiers and committing grave offences under sections 21(c), 45, 48 and other relevant provisions of the Army Act, 1950. https://x.com/MNageswarRaoIPS/status/1839267380607803779… It is eliciting a lot uncouth and loutish online behaviour which only the scum of the society, not the “disciplined” Army Officers indulge in. They are calling the Indian Police all sorts of names. They are also personally attacking me by sharing ad nauseum some trash of old pieces of yellow journalism with false and motivated allegations against me which I had countered by issuing a signed rejoinder way back in 2018, that is two years before I retired on superannuation in 2020. As my conscience is crystal clear, I care a foot for all that yellow journalism trash. The old adage, “when the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser” is so apt for the conduct of these philistines. Even in my first post I had made it amply clear that my response is not to make it Army vs Police but to put facts of the case which none was discussing. It was about seeking truth as there are innocent lives at stake. Everyone including the 5 police officers suspended even before conducting enquiry, deserves justice in a nation whose motto is "satyamev jayate". I respect our Army not necessarily because it is the best, but because it is the last line of defence against our external enemies. While the Army Officers are generally disciplined and well-behaved when they are in their units, a few of them become unruly when freed on leave or otherwise and sometimes they even try to overawe and boss over the local police officials. Police officers generally ignore it by being indulgent to them. But things get stormy when their behaviour become outrightly criminal. But why do they behave like that? Pakistan Army has been ruling Pakistan for much of its existence. Therefore, our Army Officers seem to suffer from a syndrome that is best captured by the Onida TV tagline, “neighbour's envy, owner's pride”, leading to a combination of false sense of entitlement, deprivation and victimhood. As a result, they nurture utter contempt for civil authority, and a few of them indulge in boorishness. While propagandizing themselves as holier-than-thou, they invent all sorts of false victimhood stories to rally against the civil authority.”
“Their false propaganda feeds to this kind of caricaturing of all except Army. Since they have been calling the Indian Police all sorts of names, I too can retort back with facts about Army and loss of Indian Territory to China, Kargil, etc. But once again, my objective is not to show our Army in poor light or to make it Army Vs Police. Therefore, in spite of extreme provocation I won't venture into those thorny trails. I also, exhort all Army Officers, both serving and retired, to reflect on their performance rather than indulging in bashing of civil authority especially the Police, and work to protect every inch of our territory, and save Hindus who have been facing genocidal attacks in Jammu & Kashmir, in Manipur and elsewhere. Finally, I also appeal to them that we must have mutual respect individually and for our organisations as we are all one with different functions and our work should always complement and promote our national interest. If there are any aberrations let us resolve them amicably by avoiding public spats, acrimony and rancour”, the tweet read.
