The journalist alleged that the two policemen on their motobike thrashed him and broke his phone too
A journalist alleged that he was assaulted by two policemen in Noida when he cautioned them to be careful while riding a motorcycle on the wrong side of the road, that too without helmets. The Noida Police claimed that the journalist was allegedly drunk and was roughed up by some other "unidentified" men.
The incident took place around 11:30 pm on Thursday when Rahul Kadyan, a producer with a private TV news channel, was waiting along with his friend for their cab outside the Sector 18 metro station.
The journalist said he saw the policemen coming on a motorcycle, but they were without their helmets and were riding on the wrong side of the road, which prompted his remark: "Be careful".
Mr Kadyan alleged that he was then assaulted and his phone was broken by the two policemen, who also thrashed his friend to the extent that he had to be hospitalised.
He said he was then taken to the Sector 20 police station where he was held till 6 am the next morning.
The Noida Police, however, claimed that the journalist and his friend were drunk and were beaten up by six-seven unidentified people before the cops concerned had reached the location.
Noida Police said an investigation led by Circle Officer, Noida 1, Shwetabh Pandey, has found that there indeed was an altercation between the two policemen on the motorbike and the journalist, but the assault allegations were unfounded.
"The entire episode was caught in the CCTV footage of a restaurant nearby, whose manager told the inquiry committee that he had also reached the spot when the fight broke out between the journalist, his friend and six-seven other unidentified men," the police said in a statement.
"The restaurant manager said he also got caught in the fight and received minor injuries and that no policeman was involved in the episode," the statement said.
Although, it added, that there was an altercation between the policemen and the journalist after his remarks and soon a police PRV reached the spot and he was taken to the police station.
"He was asked at the spot for a contact number of his family but he could not provide it due to his condition (inebriated). Later at the police station too he was asked for a number but could not recall, while his cell phone was already damaged," the police said.
The police said, Mr Kadyan was kept at the police station and his medical examination was done around 2:30 am which concluded that he "has consumed alcohol", "is under influence of alcohol", "gait staggering" and "speech slurring".
He was handed over to his brother the next morning, the police added.
The police inquiry, based on eye-witness account, concluded that that there was no evidence to prove that Mr Kadyan's injury were inflicted by the policemen. "These may have possibly got inflicted during his fight with the unidentified men," it said.
The Noida Police have initiated disciplinary action against the two officials concerned for the altercation, the statement said. More CCTV footage from the area is being collected for further investigation to identify the men who are suspected to have assaulted the journalist, it added.