New Delhi: Demonstrations continued on Monday outside a Delhi police station where the driver of a mini taxi and his son were assaulted a day earlier, leading to a political storm and the suspension of three policemen.
Scores of slogan-shouting protesters massed outside the Mukherjee Nagar police station near Delhi University and tried to break into the complex, only to be pushed back by a strong contingent of security personnel.
Two Assistant Sub-Inspectors and a constable have been suspended for unprofessional conduct over the way they handled the situation on Sunday after a ‘Gramin Seva’ taxi brushed a police vehicle, triggering a chain of unpleasant events.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijayanta Arya said an enquiry had been initiated into the incident.
On Monday, the driver, Sarabjit Singh, 45, became emotional while his 16-year-old son Balwant Singh broke down while telling IANS how they were thrashed at the police station.
“They took us inside the police station. One of them instructed the others to switch off the CCTV and then they started beating us badly,” said Balwant Singh, who was with his father when the incident took place.
Balwant Singh said a policeman hit him on the head with a pistol.
“First they punched my face multiple times and later one of them started to hit me with his pistol’s butt on the head. I felt like I was a terrorist who was being interrogated,” Balwant Singh said as neighbours in Gandhi Vihar stood by in grim silence.
The enquiry will be conducted by an Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police along with an Assistant Commissioner of Police to ascertain the role of the policemen in the incident which was caught on camera.
The police say it were the driver and his son who first attacked the policemen with a sword. The father was swinging a sword while chasing the police.
The driver’s friends alleged that the father and son were dragged out of the vehicle by police personnel and assaulted and again beaten up at the police station.
Further action will be taken following the outcome of the police investigation, officer Arya said.
A passer-by recorded the violent scenes on the streets on his mobile telephone and posted them on social media.
The video shows the driver and his son having an argument with a policeman outside the Mukherjee Nagar police station. As more policemen came to the scene, the man takes out a sword from his vehicle and charges at the policemen, scattering them.
Eventually he is overpowered. And then the police personnel began to rain lathi blows on the man.
They were then taken to the police station and, according to the father and son, thrashed again, prompting protests by BJP and AAP MLAs as well as demonstrations by residents, including members of the Sikh community.
(IANS)
