The accused policemen had clearly abused their authority by doing so, the court noted. (Representational)
A court in Junagadh district of Gujarat on Wednesday directed that an FIR be registered against five policemen who allegedly thrashed a man for not wearing a mask in public amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The court of additional chief judicial magistrate Bhadresh Gandhi at Vanthli town ordered an FIR against a sub-inspector and four other personnel of Vanthali police station under sections 323, 324 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 114 (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC, and provisions of the Gujarat Police Act.
The court passed the order based on a complaint filed by one Adil Chauhan, who said he was badly thrashed by the police on September 25, 2020, after he was caught for not wearing a mask.
The complainant stated that he had approached Junagadh senior t of police official seeking action against the policemen but to no avail, following which he approached the court.
The video of the incident was widely shared on social media, in which the policemen were seen beating up Chauhan with a baton while making him stand behind a vehicle with his both hands tied.
The complainant was again thrashed outside Vanthali police station, it was stated.
The court observed that prima facie, the manner in which the complainant was thrashed by the police by making him stand with his hands tied behind a jeep and outside the police station cannot be called reasonable by any yardstick.
The accused policemen had clearly abused their authority by doing so, and whatever they did with the complainant cannot be said to be a part of their legal obligation, the court noted.
The accused policemen have been identified as sub-inspector BK Chavda, Bharatsinh Sisodia, Jagdish Virambhai, Somatsinh Sisodia, and Janaksinh Sisodia of Vanthali police station.