Bhubaneswar, July 27: Suspended BJD corporator Amresh Jena was sent to Jharpara jail after a Bhubaneswar court rejected his bail plea on Sunday evening. He was arrested earlier in the day by the Commissionerate Police from the Nilagiri area of Balasore district in connection with an alleged rape case.
Following his arrest, Jena was brought to Bhubaneswar, where a medical examination was conducted under tight security at Capital Hospital. Given his political influence, one platoon of police personnel was deployed at the hospital premises to maintain law and order.
Before being taken to jail, Jena spoke briefly to the media outside the court premises. He claimed he had been "trapped" by Archana Nag, who was in jail in a separate fraud case earlier.
Shortly after his arrest, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) suspended Jena, who served as a corporator in the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, with immediate effect.
According to police sources, Jena had been absconding since being booked under multiple serious provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The case stems from a complaint filed by a 19-year-old girl who alleged that Jena sexually exploited her while she was still a minor. She accused him of coercing her into an abortion and threatening her to keep silent.
On July 23, Laxmisagar police registered a case against Jena based on the survivor’s statement, charging him with rape, foeticide, cheating, and criminal intimidation. She alleged that Jena initiated a relationship with her in June 2023, promising marriage. The girl stated that he took her to Puri and engaged in physical relations. In February 2024, while she was still a minor, he allegedly forced her to terminate a two-month pregnancy using abortion pills, again assuring her that he would divorce his wife and marry her.
The survivor claimed that Jena began avoiding her in April 2024 and threatened to eliminate her if she spoke out.
On Saturday, Laxmisagar police arrested five of Jena’s alleged associates — Bibek Kumar Swain, Bikram Mohanty, Debendra Kumar Bhola, Suman Kumar Sahoo, and Rajib Champati — for allegedly aiding him while he was on the run.
Jena has been booked under the following sections of the BNS: Section 64(2)(m): Repeated rape, Section 89: Causing miscarriage without the woman’s consent, Section 296: Obscene acts in public
