DGP orders probe into police 'laxity' during attack on scribes

Odisha DGP Prakash Mishra today ordered a departmental inquiry into the alleged police laxity in giving protection to two local TV journalists when they were abducted and attacked by some PG students of SCB medical college and hospital here last week.
The inquiry to be conducted by an ACP rank officer, also will find out as to why the police station concerned delayed in registering the FIR of the journalists and failed to take action against the medical students whose names appeared in the FIR.
Assuring a delegation of journalists, Mishra informed that ACP Aswini Mohanty would inquire into the incident and the enquiry shall be supervised by city DCP Praveen Kumar.

He further asserted that he would be in possession of the inquiry report within 10 days and take appropriate action against those found guilty.
At least four PG students of the medical college allegedly abducted the two journalists on June 15 from the hospital premises and kept them captive for over two hours at an undisclosed place.
During this period, more than 15 other students of the medical college tortured and bullied the journalists, it was alleged.
"Although, local police inspector Sk Sarrifuddin was present at the spot when the PG students abducted us, he did not interfere or make any attempt to rescue us from the clutches of the abductors. The police inspector even did not register our FIR after we were let off the unruly students," said one of the victim journalists.

Meanwhile, the Medical Bachhao Committee headed by city Congress leader Suresh Chandra Mohapatra today staged a demonstration in front of the office of the SCB hospital superintendent here demanding immediate action against those medical students who attacked the journalists last week and misbehaved with a lady attendant of a patient inside the orthopaedic ward of the Hospital on Tuesday night.