Berhampur, May 29: The district police and local advocates are at loggerheads here after a lawyer allegedly slapped a lady constable.

The accused has been taken into custody.

Lalitha Rao, a lady constable on duty at Town police station, was allegedly slapped by Mahima Behera, a local advocate, inside the police station yesterday evening.

“The advocate, Behera, was in an inebriated state. He caught hold of my left hand, pulled the collar of shirt and slapped me after asking me to give him Rs 500. He also abused me verbally,” said Rao.

The lady constable further said: “I have been posted here for the last one year and have been working in the police department for the last 12 years. But I have had never faced such a humiliating situation. I was dazed when the advocate slapped and abused me.”

Rao has lodged an FIR against Behera in the police station. Subsequently, Behera was arrested under sections 332, 354, 506 and 294 of the Indian Penal Code today and was forwarded to court.

Soon after his arrest, a group of some 60 advocates reached the police station and started arguing with the police for about half an hour. They also made an unsuccessful attempt to free him from the lock-up.

“The advocates have threatened me with dire consequences whenever I visit the court premises,” said Rao.

Kapileswar Patnaik, president of Ganjam Bar Association, said: “We have initiated immediate steps to release Behera on bail. The law will take its own course. We will seek a written complaint from Behera about the incident. Later, we will convene a general body meeting of the bar association to decide our next course of action,” said Patnaik.

Patnaik also alleged that Behera was brutally assaulted by Rao.

The Town police, however, have refused to receive any complaint from Behera.

In another development, Aswini Khadanga and Srinivas Patra, the president and secretary of the local unit of the Odisha Police Havildar and Constables’ Federation, demanded punitive action against the guilty party.

“In a similar incident, some advocates had beaten up a havildar and a court van driver on the court premises during the first week of this month after he parked the van in front of an advocate’s cabin. They first deflated the van’s tyres. When the havildar protested, they physically assaulted him. A case was registered in B.N. Pur police station in this regard, but no action has yet been taken against the guilty advocates,” they said.

They also said: “We have informed the matter to our state leaders and will to go to any extent to get justice.”