The Odisha Police on Wednesday submitted a chargesheet naming 11 people for their alleged role in the mob lynching of a GRP constable, which occurred after an alleged sexual assault attempt on a woman on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar on May 7, according to an official.
Investigating Officer (IO) Ratnaprava Satapathy, a Deputy SP-rank officer with the CID-Crime Branch, filed the 767-page chargesheet to the Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) court in Bhubaneswar.
Although 20 people were taken into custody during the investigation, the CID filed charges against 11, citing inadequate evidence to prosecute the remaining nine, an official stated.
“Accordingly, the evidence collected during the investigation is presently insufficient to constitute a prima facie case warranting their prosecution,” the CID-CB explained in a statement.
The chargesheet includes multiple sections under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including provisions related to murder and rioting.
It was alleged that a mob tied GRP constable Soumya Ranjan Swain to a pole and physically assaulted him, resulting in fatal injuries.
The CID-CB said that the probe into the lynching has been kept open in the lynching case to allow gathering of additional evidence, receipt and examination of pending forensic reports, and probe into other leads.
The official added that the investigation is progressing on a priority basis, with active efforts underway to trace and arrest other identified participants in the crime.
“Appropriate supplementary chargesheets, if warranted by further evidence, will be submitted before the competent court in accordance with law,” the official said.
The case was initially handled by the local Balianta Police Station before Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi directed the CID-Crime Branch to take over the probe due to its sensitive nature, involving a woman’s allegation of attempted sexual assault against the constable and the deceased’s family requesting a polygraph test for the complainant.
The local police had arrested 11 suspects, while the Crime Branch subsequently apprehended nine others.
The incident triggered widespread public outrage across the state, prompting the Odisha Police to suspend four personnel from Balianta Police Station and disengage two home guards for alleged inaction and failure to control the mob leading to the death.
According to the complaint lodged, Swain and his associate were riding a motorcycle on May 7 when they collided with a scooter carrying two women. Swain allegedly assaulted the women and tried to sexually assault one of them, provoking a violent retaliation from the gathered crowd that ultimately led to his death.
The autopsy report revealed 21 external injuries on Swain’s body, indicating that severe blunt force trauma to several areas of his head resulted in intracranial bleeding and brain swelling, which likely caused his death. Blood clots were also identified in his lungs.
The CID-CB is handling two separate cases arising from the event – one relating the murder of the GRP constable and the other investigating the alleged attempted rape of the woman.
