Odisha police have ordered a crime branch inquiry into the alleged manhandling of a Captain of the 22 Sikh regiment and his fiancée by police inside a police station in Bhubaneswar.

The captain was in custody for four hours and the fiancee was sent to jail on charges of assaulting policemen inside the police station.

Director-general of police (DGP) Y.B. Khurania told The Telegraph: “The crime branch is on the job and has started an investigation. There will be a free and fair investigation on the issue.”

Sources said the police have also decided to drop all the cases slapped against the woman by the local police.

“It’s now the question of protecting the dignity and modesty of a woman. We will extend all our support to the Captain. At the same time, we will cooperate with the police investigation,” a senior official of the Indian Army, told The Telegraph.

Sources in the Indian Army said: “In the intervening night of September 14 and 15, Capt Gurvansh Singh Gosal and his fiancée were returning from her place of work in Bhubaneshwar, when unknown miscreants waylaid them in cars who later assaulted the couple and fled the scene.”

The source said: “The couple then approached Bharatpur Police Station to seek immediate action to nab the miscreants. However, the police official and other police personnel on duty refused to act and asked them to first register the complaint in writing. When the couple insisted on having a word with higher-ups, the distaste of the police personnel present led to a heated argument with the police.”