Bhubaneswar, Aug. 30: The Odisha Police Association today filed a complaint with the director-general of police seeking action against Deogarh police superintendent B. Gangadhar for allegedly forcing an assistant sub-inspector in the district to do sit-ups holding his ears in the presence of his subordinates yesterday.

The police superintendent also allegedly abused another sub-inspector of the district over petty issues. "We have received information about the Deogarh police superintendent forcing assistant sub-inspector Ajay Sahu of Tileibani outpost to do sit-ups by holding his ears in the presence of several officers during a meeting. This is a barbaric act, and the association condemns this. We have filed a complaint with the director-general of police for an inquiry into the matter," said association president Satyajit Mishra.

Mishra further criticised his colleagues, who were present during the incident for not raising their voice. "The fellow policemen should have raised their voice during the incident. We demand an inquiry by the inspector general of the range in this connection," said he.

Gangadhar denied the allegations and said he was being intentionally maligned by some police personnel. "The concerned ASI was dozing off during the crime meeting, and I asked him to get up so that he did not feel drowsy. I did not warn him for anything and the entire issue is being blown out of proportion. I think as the crime meeting had continued for more than 10 hours, some of them might have not liked to sit for so long," Gangadhar told The Telegraph.

In November, the association had demanded an inquiry into an incident, in which a sub-inspector working with Boudh police was allegedly assaulted by Gangadhar, who was the then Boudh superintendent, for offering bribe of Rs 20,000 to clear his salary for two months. Prahalad Kanhar, who was working with the reserve section of district police, had also alleged of being assaulted by Gangadhar. However, Gangadhar refuted the allegations.