Odisha Elections 2024: Prashant Jagdev's bail plea rejected, lawyer alleges torture by police

Khordha Additional District Sessions Judge-2 on Friday rejected the bail plea of Chilika MLA Prashant Jagdev who was arrested on the charges of toppling an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) during the third phase of polling in Odisha.

As per reports, Jagdev's bail plea was rejected during the second hearing. Jagdev's lawyer Pitambar Acharya and 40 other lawyers advocated for the saffron party leader. Now, Jagdev may move the High Court.

Meanwhile, Jagdev's lawyer Pitambar Acharya brought some serious allegations against police by saying that the BJP leader was allegedly treated like a criminal following his arrest.

According to Acharya, Jagdev was ill-treated and tortured by police following his arrest. He was even made to sit on the floor at the police station and was not served with food and water.

Acharya further alleged that police flouted all the rules and regulations and made sure that Jagdev would not visit other districts for election campaigns.

"Prashant Jagdev is fully innocent. The way police chased and arrested him like a criminal without any FIR is highly condemnable. Police had no substantial evidence when he was arrested," said Acharya.

"The Presiding Officer was pressurized to lodge the FIR. He was made to sit on the floor at the police station. Even food and water were not served to him. He was forwarded to court at 12.30 am. As per the provision in the Supreme Court and CRPC, police are bound to comply with Section 41 (2) if the punishment is likely to be less than seven years. He was to be given bail from the police station itself. The drama which was created amid the ongoing election is meant to affect the polling in other districts," he added.

No reactions could be obtained from Khordha police.