Court grants bail to seven defendants in case of attack on army officer and his fiancée

The district court on Saturday granted bail to all seven accused in the alleged assault case against the army officer and his fiancée at Chandaka Road in Bhubaneshwar in the Indian state of Odisha.
Odisha state police arrested seven people on Thursday after the incident reportedly occurred on September 15 when the couple were returning from a hotel late at night.
Krushna Prasad Dash, Deputy DCP, Bhubaneswar, told ANI that they have registered a case under several sections of the BNS.
“During investigation, we seized a vehicle and 11 mobile phones of the accused. Seven of them were arrested and handed over to the court. We also seized a video and audio clip and are examining them,” he said.
“The arrested accused are Rakesh Naik, Abhilash Sawant, Aman Kumar, Aditya Ranjan Behra, Akash Padhiyari, Harish Manta and Ashish Kumar. Further investigation is on,” added Additional DCP Dash.
The incident reportedly took place on September 15 when the Army Major and the woman went to the Bharatpur police station to complain about some miscreants who had harassed them when they were returning from a hotel late at night. Instead of addressing their concerns, the police allegedly tortured the Major and the woman and even sent them to jail without any justification.
The Odisha state government on Friday reiterated its zero-tolerance policy towards violence against women and launched an investigation into the matter.
The Chief Minister's Office issued a statement saying that necessary steps and departmental action had been taken in the matter.
“The government has taken very seriously the allegations of misconduct and assault against an army officer and a woman accompanying him at Bharatpur police station. As soon as the incident came to the attention of the government, statutory and departmental steps were taken,” the statement from the Chief Minister's Office said.
The state government has suspended five police officials, including the Inspector Charge (IIC) of Bharatpur police station, in connection with the incident and ordered a Crime Branch inquiry into the matter.
Former Odisha Chief Minister and Opposition Leader Naveen Patnaik also demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident and criticised the BJP government for stopping certain initiatives for the people.