NSUI suspends Odisha chief Udit Pradhan after arrest in 'rape' case

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha unit president of National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), a wing of the Congress, was arrested for allegedly raping a 19-year-old woman in a hotel here, police said on Monday.

The incident occurred on March 18 but came to light on Sunday after the student lodged a complaint at the Mancheswar Police Station, alleging that accused Udit Pradhan mixed an intoxicating substance in her drinks and raped her in the hotel, a senior officer said.

NSUI national president Varun Choudhary suspended its Odisha unit president with immediate effect and said the students’ wing of the Congress maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards gender-based injustice.

“Based on the complaint submitted by the student, an FIR was registered at the Mancheswar Police Station and the accused was arrested on Sunday,” Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissionerate additional commissioner (Zone-V) Biswaranjan Senapati said.

The engineering student also accused Pradhan of threatening her with dire consequences if she disclosed the alleged incident, he said.

“I was silent due to the influence of Pradhan. However, as the women’s allegations are now being attended to, I dared to lodge a complaint against him,” the student said in her plaint.

"The accused has been booked under various provisions, including rape and criminal intimidation, of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita," another officer said.

Pradhan's supporters, however, staged a demonstration before the Mancheswar Police Station, protesting against the arrest.

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhakta Charan Das on Monday constituted a six-member fact-finding team, headed by its vice-president Sasmita Behera, to probe into the allegations against Pradhan and meet the student.

The panel will submit its report to the state Congress committee at the earliest, a party release said.