A 35-year-old man was allegedly beaten up by two police constables on the road of Madhya Pradesh’s Indore city on Tuesday, April 6, after a dispute over not wearing a face mask, which has been made mandatory in view of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Congress member Gaurav Pandhi shared a video on his Twitter handle with a caption, “Policemen in Indore brutally beating a man for not wearing a mask (which he should) while his child cries, pleading infront of the cops. @ChouhanShivraj will your shameless policemen do the same to PM Modi or BJP leaders who say “no need to wear mask”?”. The video is getting viral on social media and netizens are sharing the video by raising questions on the alleged assault by Indore police.
Policemen in Indore brutally beating a man for not wearing a mask (which he should) while his child cries, pleading infront of the cops. @ChouhanShivraj will your shameless policemen do the same to PM Modi or BJP leaders who say "no need to wear mask"?
pic.twitter.com/8Ilo7HmLzg— Gaurav Pandhi (@GauravPandhi) April 6, 2021
After a video of the alleged incident went viral on social media, both policemen were suspended, an official said. Police claimed that the man first assaulted and abused the constables. In the video, the two policemen are purportedly seen thrashing the man on the street even as his teenage son and some women beg for mercy.
Superintendent of Police (SP) of Indore, Ashutosh Bagri, said the two constables seen in the video have been suspended and a City Superintendent of Police (CSP) has been asked to investigate the matter.
Bagri further claimed, “When those two cops tried to escort this man to Police Station for not wearing mask, he tried to assault them. That part has been cropped in the video to malign Police’ image. What those cops did was also wrong, they’ve been suspended. Inquiry is underway”.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Rahul Kothari has also reacted to this issue and said, “On the basis of initial information, 2 police officers have been suspended. The man had several cases against him. He was adamant about not wearing a mask, the police were only trying to control him, they weren’t beating him,” as quoted by ANI.
On the basis of initial information, 2 police officers have been suspended. The man had several cases against him. He was adamant about not wearing a mask, the police were only trying to control him, they weren't beating him: BJP leader Rahul Kothari, in Bhopal pic.twitter.com/iLp6L0iWnO
— ANI (@ANI) April 7, 2021
On the other side, the victim has said, “Was taking food for my father in hospital when Police asked me to come to PS as my mask had slipped. I requested that I could report later but they began hitting me,” as quoted by ANI.
MP: In a viral video, 2 policemen seen thrashing a man in Indore for not wearing mask properly
"Was taking food for my father in hospital when Police asked me to come to PS as my mask had slipped. I requested that I could report later but they began hitting me," he said (06.04) pic.twitter.com/gOYaljmV1q
— ANI (@ANI) April 6, 2021
