Journalist, Stripped, Alleges Cops Targeted Him For Story Against BJP MLA

A group of men, including a journalist and theatre artists, were seen stripped down to their underwear inside a police station in Madhya Pradesh in a post that has gone viral now. The eight men were seen standing against the wall with their hands clasped in front.

A local journalist and YouTuber, who was identified in the photo, alleged he was abused, beaten up and asked to strip by some police personnel when he went to cover a protest against a local BJP MLA.

The incident allegedly happened on Saturday in Madhya Pradesh's Sidhi district when the journalist went to cover the protest against the arrest of theatre artist Neeraj Kunder for making alleged indecent remarks against BJP MLA Kedarnath Shukla and his son Guru Dutt Shukla using a fake Facebook profile.

Kanishka Tiwari, the journalist, claimed he and his camera person were arrested and charged with several sections, including trespassing and disturbance of public peace. "Why are you running stories against the MLA?" he was allegedly asked by the police.

Mr Tiwari claimed he, along with others in the picture, was kept in police custody for 18 hours. "The police took us into custody at around 8 pm on April 2 and released us at 6 pm on April 3," Mr Tiwari alleged.

Several social workers and theatre artists protested the arrest of Mr Kunder but they were beaten up by the police when they raised slogans against the BJP government in the state, claimed a protestor.

The photo, Mr Tiwari claimed, was clicked by the in-charge of the police station, Abhishek Singh Parihar, who, he said, "threatened us to parade naked in the city if we run the story. The police made the post viral. This is a violation of our human rights."

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has taken note of the incident and has asked for strict action against the guilty police officers.