The sub inspectortries to shield himself but blows are rained down on him
A policeman was slapped, hit with shoes and slippers in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district today by a group of angry lawyers, in the presence of the district police chief. The lawyers had barged into the chambers of district judge Rajendra Prasad to assault the sub inspector.
A 26 second mobile phone video that has gone viral on social media shows the lawyers hitting the police sub inspector - abusing and threatening him. The sub inspector tries to shield himself but blows are rained down on him. The mobile phone footage then shows another room where another group of lawyers can be heard shouting at Sitapur Superintendent of Police Prabhakar Chaudhary, who was sitting with the district judge.
A voice can be heard saying, "You cannot do this to lawyers. You cannot keep them in the police station for so many hours." The SP can be heard saying, "Please listen to me."
The UP police say a case is being registered and action is being taken. Earlier in the day, a building in the Sitapur town - about 80 kilometres from state capital Lucknow - was sealed by the district administration during an anti-encroachment drive. The building houses a club and the police say many cartons of unaccounted liquor were also found at the club. Two lawyers are reportedly the joint owners of the club and then were detained and brought to a local police station for questioning.
Lawyers angry with the police action first blocked a major road in the town and then gathered in large numbers at the local court where the police chief had gone to meet with the district judge. The sub inspector was assaulted there.