Bhubaneswar, May 10: A day after Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi ordered a Crime Branch probe into the brutal lynching of railway Constable Soumya Ranjan Swain in Balianta on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, the Crime Branch on Sunday formally began its investigation with multiple teams visiting the crime spot and Balianta police station amid allegations of attempted rape and alleged police negligence.

Soumya was tied to a pole and beaten mercilessly in full public view like an animal after being accused of allegedly sexually harassing a woman on a busy road.

Crime Branch DSP Ratnaprabha Satpathy is leading the investigation, while Crime Branch SP Aniruddha Routaray is supervising the probe.

Meanwhile, the Crime Branch team visited the Balianta police station and collected all case-related documents and records from the investigating officer and also the crime spot.

Crime Branch DIG B Gangadhar said two separate cases would be examined during the probe.

“Crime Branch has taken charge of the case. Two cases will be investigated, one focusing on the murder of Soumya Ranjan and the other on the complaint made by the girl alleging an attempt to rape. We will work to establish the truth surrounding the incident,” he said.

Reviewing the State’s law and order in the wake of the barbaric killing, Chief Minister Majhi on Saturday expressed deep anger and directed DGP Y B Khurania to ensure such incidents never recur.

Sources said that the Chief Minister also reprimanded senior officers of the Commissionerate Police for their alleged mishandling of the situation.

Meanwhile, deceased Soumya’s father, Dhusasana Swain, voiced anger over the lack of accountability.

“At least three uniformed officers and two in plainclothes reached. They did little to save him,” alleged Dhusasana.

Soumya’s friend Om Prakash Patra, who was driving the bike and witnessed the attack, alleged that a plainclothes officer even joined the mob in assaulting Soumya.