Odisha Cop Assaults Woman For Not Selling Land, Arrested

Bolangir: A tribal woman was allegedly assaulted by a constable in Bolangir Town Police Station last night after she denied signing a stamp paper for sale of her land. The constable, Anjan Pradhan was allegedly mediating between the woman, who is a widow, and the land purchaser, her brother-in-law Vikash Jain for sale of her paternal land.

The matter came to the fore today after the woman, a resident of Gandhinagarpara area in the town lodged an FIR at Bolangir Town Police Station leveling allegations of assault against the constable.

Meanwhile after a preliminary investigation into the incident, both Pradhan & Jain have been arrested in connection with the incident.

According to reports, the woman's brother-in-law tried to sell their paternal land and asked her signature on No-Objection Certificate (NOC). But when she refused to sell the land, he sought help from the police constable Pradhan.

But as she continued to stay adamant on her demands, Pradhan reportedly took away her two minor children to the police station yesterday evening. Later, he called the woman to the police station and tried to manipulate her to give signature of a stamp paper.

When she protested, Pradhan reportedly thrashed and manhandled the woman, her father and sister following which she ran away from the police station. However, Pradhan caught her near Kacheri Chhak and assaulted her in public. She was rescued by some local youths present at the spot.

“He manipulated me and took two signatures from me. When I came to know that he had taken my signature on the land’s stamp paper, I tried to snatch away the paper. In the meantime, he manhandled me,” said the woman.

On the other hand, Pradhan has refuted the charges on him. “If the woman is bringing some allegations then she must have had some fight with her brother-in-law. I do not know anything about it. I was not mediating their case, instead her brother-in-law is my friend so I was trying to solve the issue,” said Pradhan.

“The signature that I took from her was to take her children home,” added Pradhan.