Bhubaneswar, Aug. 1: An assistant commissioner of police today allegedly beat up a constable during a recruitment drive here.

Constable Premananda Nayak said assistant commissioner of police Banambar Sethy had assaulted him when he had tried to stop him from showing undue favour to one of the candidates during the constables’ recruitment drive.

At a time when other aspirants for the 44 vacant posts were taking part in a cross-country race, Banambar was taking one Satyajit Sethy on a jeep. “I had been given the responsibility of motorcycle patrolling during the event. When the race started, I saw Banambar taking one aspirant with him on a vehicle. I chased the vehicle and stopped it. Banambar tried to bribe me and requested me not to tell this to anyone. When I refused, he beat me up,” said Nayak.

“When I tried to inform my seniors over walkie-talkie, Banambar snatched it away from me,” said Nayak, who later lodged a complaint with the battalion-level selection committee.

“We have initiated an inquiry into the incident,” said chairman of the committee, J.K. Indrasingh.

The incident has also raised questions of nexus between officials and job aspirants.

“This was the last stage of our recruitment. Before this, we had to go through a written test along with other physical tests. But these kind of incidents are not acceptable as they can eliminate the chances of genuine aspirants,” said a candidate requesting anonymity.