Cops suspended for ‘thrashing’ trader after road rage
NEW DELHI: Five days after a few policemen allegedly beat up a businessman black and blue following a road rage incident involving them, the Delhi Police on Wednesday suspended three of its personnel and initiated a departmental inquiry against them.
“One assistant sub-inspector and two constables have been suspended and sent to district lines. A regular departmental inquiry has been ordered against them,” said Rishi Pal, DCP (Rohini). He said the action against the policemen was deemed necessary after the initial inquiry.
A protest on Wednesday outside Prashant Vihar police station could have prompted the action. Relatives and friends of the victim, Amit Jindal, sat outside the police station, alleging inaction by the police in a case involving their own officials.
The problem had begun in the early hours of Friday when Jindal was returning home in a car.
As he was passing through Rohini Sector 14, his car reportedly hit a police patrol bike, resulting in a heated exchange between Jindal and the two policemen riding the motorcycle.
When the alleged police brutality was brought to media’s notice on Saturday, the DCP said that the two policemen had dialled the police control room and called for support.
Jindal alleged that when two more policemen arrived at the scene, they beat up Jindal a little before taking him for a medical examination.
“Jindal was heavily drunk and that led to the accident. So, the policemen took him for a medical examination,” the DCP had claimed, adding that the medical examination confirmed he was drunk.
The DCP claimed that the medical test after the initial brawl had only suggested an abrasion on Jindal’s hands which he allegedly received when he was coming out of his car at the time of the accident.
But after the examination, Jindal was allegedly taken to Prashant Vihar police station where a group of policemen rained batons on him, allegedly for arguing with the police at the accident spot.
“The policemen switched off my mobile phone and demanded ₹1 lakh to let me off. In the morning, my family visited the police station and gave ₹60,000 before I was released,” Jindal had alleged.
His family then took him for treatment. As evidence of the alleged thrashing, Jindal showed the blue and black marks on his back and limbs. He continued to limp for days after the alleged thrashing.