Uttar Pradesh: 2 policemen have been suspended and a departmental probe has been ordered.
Highlights
- Two UP policemen suspended after they thrashed man on road
- They face attempt to murder charge now
- Departmental probe ordered against them
Two policemen who were suspended after they were seen in a video thrashing a young man in Uttar Pradesh's Siddharth Nagar, near the border with Nepal, have been charged with trying to kill the man.
In the video taken by a bystander, the young man is beaten, dragged on the road and slapped by the two policemen on Tuesday, while his niece, terrified, can be seen looking on.
The man's family said the beating started over an argument as a result of a traffic violation.
The police, however, said the man was drunk and was involved in a communal dispute in the area. He was not tested for drinking and driving.
A departmental probe has also been ordered against the two policemen after the video was shared widely online.
Initial reports suggest that Rinku Pandey, who was riding a motorcycle, had entered into an argument with the police personnel on Tuesday afternoon when they stopped him to check his papers. The footage shows sub-inspector Virendra Mishra and head constable Mahendra Prasad beating him up and verbally abusing him. One of the policemen even sits on the man who is pinned to the ground. The man was also pulled by his hair.
The child also seems to have injured her hand.
"If it is my fault, you can lock me up in jail," the man tells the policemen in Hindi. The child can be seen walking up to him and giving him something.
Towards the end of the video, the man refuses to give the key of his motorcycle as the policemen try to snatch it from him. "Tell me, what is my fault?" he asks them.
"It is being said that he was drunk. The two policemen beat him up badly, pushed him to the ground and behaved badly with him. Both of them were in uniform. It is disgraceful to the police department," senior police officer Dr Dharm Veer Singh said.