KENDRAPADA: Police have filed a case against a 30-year-old man on Friday on charges of circulating photos of a lady constable and sending obscene messages to her on her mobile phone and on social media.
The woman, a constable in the office of Kendrapada superintendent of police (SP), has filed an FIR and alleged that Bhimasen Sethi of Mahakalapada has been sending her obscene messages and circulating her photos on social media platforms.
“Acting on the FIR, we have launched an investigation and filed a case against the accused under Sections 66 (A), 66 (C), 67 of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act and 501 (printing or engraving matter known derogatory) of the IPC,” said Jyoti Ranjan Samantray, the IIC of Kendrapada town police station.
Sethi, who claims to be running a news portal, had already filed an FIR in the same police station on Thursday. In his complaint, he stated the lady constable was not wearing a mask while sitting in the office. This photograph he had clicked and posted online for which the constable had assaulted him on Wednesday in front of the SP’s office.
It may be mentioned that on Thursday some people, including Sethi, gheraoed five MLAs of the district – Kendrapada MLA Sashibhusan Behera, Aul MLA Pratap Kishor Dev, Mahakalapada MLA Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Rajnagar MLA Dhrub Sahoo and Patkura MLA Sabitri Agrawalla – at the collector’s office while they were attending a meeting regarding construction a barrage in the district.
They locked the main gate of the office for a few minutes in protest against the constable assaulting Sethi. They also claimed that the police are not taking any action against her.
When contacted, Rajnagar MLA Sahoo said, “Some people had locked the main door for a few minutes. After coming to know about the incident, we directed the collector to take the issue seriously and find the truth behind the claims.”
Kendrapada district collector Amrit Ruturaj said, “We directed the police to take proper legal action against whoever is responsible.”
