Odisha auto driver arrested for ‘facilitating’ assault on woman passenger

Reported by Santosh Jagdev
Bhubaneswar, Sep 25:

In a bizarre case, Commissionerate Police on Friday arrested an auto-rickshaw driver in Odisha’s capital city for ‘facilitating’ an assault on a woman passenger with intent to outrage her modesty.

Kharvela Nagar police sources said they arrested Basudev Mallick (31) of Puri district, for encouraging a passenger, who was sitting on the front seat, to shift himself to the rear seat where a woman was sitting.

The police added that the man went to the rear seat and tried to molest the girl, and when she screamed, he jumped out off the auto and fled away.

“The locals, however, nabbed the auto driver and handed him over to us. We have launched a search operation to nab the male passenger,” the police said.

Meanwhile, a case has been registered regarding the incident and Mallick was produced in a local court here today.