Samajwadi leaders allege assault at ex-Meerut SSP’s office; probe ordered
Two party leaders allege they were beaten, tied up and threatened with an encounter during meeting over Lalita Gautam murder case
Two Samajwadi Party leaders have alleged that they were assaulted by former Meerut SSP Avinash Pandey and police personnel and were forced to dance to the song 'Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai'. An inquiry has been ordered into the allegations.
The alleged incident took place during a meeting at Pandey's office in connection with a protest over the Lalita Gautam murder case.
Pandey was removed as Meerut SSP and attached to the police headquarters late on Thursday, 20 August as part of a police reshuffle, according to UP Police.
SP leaders Dr Digvijay Singh Bhati — also a farmer leader — and Mohit Jatav made the allegations at a press conference at the residence of party MLA Atul Pradhan on Friday. Bhati alleged that on 19 August, when the two met Pandey, they were abused and allegedly kicked, punched and beaten with shoes inside the SSP's office.
He further alleged that after the assault, he was taken to the SOG office by Civil Lines police station SHO Akhilesh Kumar Gaur, where his hands and legs were tied and he was allegedly beaten with sticks. "Police personnel played the song 'Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai' on a mobile phone and asked us to dance to it. We could not even stand properly, yet we were made to dance," Bhati alleged.
He claimed the assault left him with internal injuries and a swollen eye and alleged that he was threatened with further harm if he spoke to the media about the incident. Jatav alleged that police personnel also threatened to stage his "encounter".
Pradhan demanded that a case be registered and alleged that the two leaders were forcibly made to write that their scooter had caused an accident. He claimed that CCTV footage from the police office could establish what happened.
Police records show that nine cases are registered against Bhati in Amroha and Meerut. The cases include offences under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 3(2) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
ADG Meerut Zone Bhanu Bhaskar has assigned the inquiry to Saharanpur DIG Abhishek Singh and directed him to submit a fact-based report.
Attempts to contact Pandey and Civil Lines SHO Akhilesh Kumar Gaur for their response to the allegations were unsuccessful as they did not answer calls.
With PTI inputs