Youtube journalist stripped, thrashed at MP police station

POLICE SAY THE EIGHT WERE HELD FOR ALLEGEDLY CREATING A RUCKUS IN THE POLICE STATION

BHOPAL: A 36-year-old journalist on Thursday alleged that he and seven others were stripped and thrashed at a police station in Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi district, after they were arrested for staging a protest against the arrest of a theatre artist.

While the purported incident took place on April 2, it came to light only on Thursday when semi-nude photos of the eight arrested people went viral on social media. HT could not verify the authenticity of the photos.

Journalist Kanishk Tiwari, who runs a Youtube channel, said he along with a few Congress workers and other theatre artists were arrested on April 2 for protesting the arrest of theatre artist Neeraj Kunder at Sidhi police station.

According to police, Kunder was arrested for allegedly making obscene remarks against Bharatiya Janata Party (MLA) Kedarnath Shukla and his son, Guru Dutt, on social media.

Tiwari alleged that he and others were stripped and thrashed at the police station.

“Police removed my clothes and thrashed me. They took photos and tried to circulate them on social media… they arrested me for supporting a reputed artist,” Tiwari, who was released on bail along with others on Wednesday, said.

“In the past, I had made several revelations, including how a local MLA had failed to construct roads and provide water to residents, on my Youtube channel,” he said.

Police, however, said that Tiwari and seven others were arrested as they were creating a ruckus in the police station.

“Kunder, director of Indravati Natya Sansthan (a local drama institute), was arrested for continuously defaming Shukla and his son. Kunder had made a fake Facebook profile for this purpose. He was arrested on April 2 under section 419 (impersonation) and 420 (cheating) of Indian Penal Code and under sections 66C and 66D of the IT Act,” Sidhi Kotwali police station in-charge Mukesh Soni said.

“Tiwari and seven others were arrested on the same day when they staged a protest inside the police station. They were shouting slogans against the police and state government. They were arrested under section 151 (knowingly joining or continuing in assembly of five or more persons after it has been commanded to disperse) of IPC,” he added.

Soni dismissed the journalist’s charge that all the eight arrested people were thrashed by police.

“Their clothes were taken off to check them and this is a normal process which police follow after the arrest. They were not thrashed at the police station. Despite our several requests, they were creating ruckus at the police station,” he said.