Three constables were suspended, a sub-inspector was transferred and disciplinary action initiated against a 'home guard' for assaulting two NRI's and their friends in Hyderabad.
On June 28, one of the victims, M Vasu from Ireland, brought to the notice of the Hyderabad police commissioner, via an email, about the high-handed behavior of the Musheerabad police station officials.
Vasu complained that he and three of his friends were picked up near Guru Nanak Care Hospital in Musheerabad at 2.30 am on June 25. At the police station, the cops beat them up with fibre batons and demanded Rs three lakh bribe to release them without any charges.
The police chief ordered an inquiry into the allegations and, based on the statement of Vasu, a case was registered under Sections 341,324 rw 34 of Indian Penal Code at the Musheerabad police station on Monday and investigation was entrusted to the assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Chikkadpally.
During the preliminary probe, it was found that the suspended constables and home guard had manhandled the victims.
Based on the allegations about the bribe demand, SI Sampath was shunted out and attached to the Armed Reserve till the end of the inquiry. On the face of it, this seems really horrible on the part of the police.
Why did they thrash these NRI’s and their friends black and blue? Nobody seems to be paying attention to this aspect. Why did the police act the way they did? These four people were apparently fully drunk and creating a scene at ‘Gurunanak Care Hospital’ near Musheerabad at 2.30 am in the morning.
According to the commissioner, at 2.43 am on June 25, a passerby called up 100 and complained that some persons were creating a nuisance near the hospital. Then, a Blue Colts team of the Musheerabad police station reached the spot and found the four noisy youths in an inebriated state.
When constables advised the four to leave the place, they picked up an argument and the duty officer at the police station was alerted about the incident. Subsequently , the patrol car reached the spot and as the accused refused to board the vehicle another team of Blue Colts constables were summoned to the spot and finally they managed to take the four to the police station.
At the police station, the four created nuisance and when the home guard was trying to videograph them with a mobile phone, one of them snatched it and kept it in his pocket, the police chief said.
Subsequently , SI C Sai Kumar reached the police station and, at the Chikkadpally traffic police station, breathalyzer test was performed on the four and they were found to have consumed liquor beyond permissible limits.
Based on the complaint lodged by the home guard, a case was registered under Section 353 (assault or use of criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duties) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and one of them, Preetam of Marredpally, was arrested.
The remaining three -Nirish, Nitin of Musheerabad and Vasu of Mahendra Hills -were let off.
As one can see, the police followed the rules and tried their utmost to restrain the youth and talk sense into them. But the youth rebelled against authority and assaulted the cops in return. So what are the police expected to do? Go on a fast unto death.
Imagine snatching the mobile phone from a cop in a police station and putting it into his own pocket? Sometimes, the police resort to meting out punishment when everything else fails. In this case, they were definitely too severe. But it is apparent that the NRI’s provoked them into it. And they are not youth who are prone to such misdemeanors. They were professionals well into their late thirties.
Being educated people and NRI’s at that, how can they roam around the streets at 2.30 in the morning, create a nuisance and then complain of high handedness? This is a sad reflection on their mindsets.
And then they say that they will take Irish citizenship and never ever come back to India or Hyderabad? Who are they trying to emotionally blackmail? Considering that they are NRI’s, their behavior is clearly a disgrace to the nation. If they take Irish citizenship, India will have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
The Department should let off the cops after counseling them. How else are you expected to deal with drunken nuisances on the street? You roam around fully drunk on the streets in the middle of the night causing nuisance to society and then complain of violation of human rights?
These NRI’s will go back to their cushy jobs and start acting like decent people back in their adopted lands, but it is the unfortunate cops who will have a black mark in their careers now.
Both the media and public should go easy on the cops. It is definitely the NRIs’ who are at fault here. They started the whole mess and asked for it!
