Odisha court grants crime branch permission to conduct narco test on accused police officer

Odisha police conduct narco-analysis on former IIC accused of molesting army officer's fiancée, consent obtained for tests.

A local court in Bhubaneswar allowed the crime branch of Odisha police to conduct narco-analysis, polygraph, and brain finger printing of Dinakrushna Mishra, former inspector-in-charge (IIC) of Bharatpur police station, who was accused of molesting and sexually harassing fiancée of an army officer.

The crime branch had approached the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate Court seeking Mr. Mishra’s consent for subjecting him to the three tests. Consent is mandatory before an individual can be required to undergo such tests.

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“I am innocent. I am not involved in the commission of the offences as against me. I don’t have any objection to undergo narco analysis, polygraph and brain finger printing. I am giving my consent on my own accord and free will,” the former IIC informed the court.

The crime branch will conduct the tests at the Gujarat’s State Forensic Science Laboratory at Gandhi Nagar. The court directed to carry out all the tests as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) applicable from time to time without any delay.

Earlier, the court said it was submitted that the former IIC had allegedly sexually harassed and molested the victim girl, fiancée of the informant [Army officer] inside the police station.

“It is the duty of the investigating agency to unearth the truth by collecting the legally admissible evidence. As the sequence of events in this case occurred within the four walls of the police station without any eye witness, scientific methodology may give a proper direction to the investigating agency to reach at the truth,” it observed.