Bhubaneswar, Jul 27 (PTI) Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation’s BJD corporator Amaresh Jena was arrested from Odisha’s Balasore district on Sunday in connection with a rape case registered against him in the state capital and remanded to 14-day judicial custody, police said.
The BJD suspended him from the party immediately after his arrest.
Jena was booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including charges of rape, committing miscarriage without a woman’s permission, obscene act and criminal intimidation, and the POCSO Act.
As Jena was not available at his house and remained incommunicado, the police formed a special squad and launched a manhunt, an officer said.
“Finally, he was located at a village in Nilgiri area under the Berhampur police station limits and apprehended by the special squad,” Abhimanyu Nayak, the additional commissioner of police (ACP), Zone-IV, said.
He was brought to Bhubaneswar and produced before the judge of the POCSO court here, the officer said.
Jena was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days after his bail petition was rejected, the police said.
Immediately after his arrest, the BJD issued an office order stating, “Amaresh Jena, Corporator, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, is hereby suspended from the party with immediate effect.” The woman, in a written complaint at Laxmisagar Police Station earlier this week, alleged that the corporator sexually exploited her with the promise of marriage when she was 17 years old.
The complainant, now aged 19, accused Jena of committing rape, foeticide, cheating, and criminal intimidation.
She claimed that Jena took her to Puri, got her engaged in physical relations, and in February 2024, when she was still a minor, forced her to undergo an abortion.
The woman also alleged that she was threatened and directed not to reveal the matter to anyone.
While being taken to Capital Hospital for medical examination, Jena said, “Archana Nag has trapped me. I’m 100 per cent sure she framed me. Ask her, she’ll reveal everything.” Nag, who was arrested on charges of blackmailing the rich and influential people in 2022 and is now out on bail, told reporters that she had no connection with Jena’s case.
Jena’s wife claimed that her husband was a victim of a political conspiracy.
“My husband is a senior corporator of ward 45 in the BMC. He has been trapped, she said.
She also claimed that her husband surrendered before the police.
A senior officer, however, said that Jena was staying in a village in the Nilgiri area, which is close to the forest and could escape from there if any police were conducting an operation to apprehend him.
Meanwhile, a political slugfest began over Jena’s arrest.
BJD Bhubaneswar president Ashok Panda told reporters that Jena’s suspension would not affect the party.
“No one is indispensable in the BJD. I reiterate that the law will take its own course. The BJD has acted immediately as soon as Jena was arrested by the police. We stand by the party’s pro-women ideology,” Panda said.
Ruling BJP spokesperson Anil Biswal claimed that the complainant was being “sexually abused since 2023, but could not lodge a complaint due to fear and political pressure under the BJD regime”.
“Now that there’s faith in the system, she finally came forward. Justice will now prevail,” he said.
“Those (BJD leadership) who suspended Jena from the party should also take up the moral responsibility if they are truly sensitive to the issue,” Biswal added.
On Saturday night, the police arrested five aides of Jena for allegedly providing conveyance and assisting Amresh Jena to evade the arrest.
The police have recorded the statement of the woman, and she also underwent a medical test.
The Bhubaneswar police had this week arrested Udit Pradhan, the state president of NSUI, the student wing of the Congress, for allegedly raping an engineering student. He has also been suspended from the party. PTI AAM RG AAM BDC
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