Police told mob where to hit us, say Sikh victims
AJMER: A day after a video showing four Sikh men purportedly abused and thrashed by a mob circulated on social media, victims said they were beaten up in the presence of two constables, who told the people where to hit them, a charge police denied.
“The constables told the mob not to hit us on our heads and neck,” Harpal Singh, one of the victims, told HT on the telephone from Alwar on Friday.
The four Sikh men, sewadars of a gurudwara in Khairthal in Alwar, are Niramal Singh, Malkeet Singh, Kuldeep Singh and Harpal Singh.
The 51-second video circulated on social media on Thursday.
The Sikh men had gone to Chainpura village in Ajmer on April 24 to collect donations when the mob beat them up alleging that they molested their women. Police found the allegations to be false.
“We were beaten up mercilessly by the crowd in presence of two police constables,” Harpal Singh alleged. “I can never forget the attack.”
Kuldeep Singh, another victim, said he heard the constables telling the mob that they were in no hurry to take them to the police station.
“The constables after talking to some locals handed us over to the crowd and asked them to teach us a lesson for life,” Kuldeep said.
The crowd, the victims said, beat them with sticks for half an hour before they were taken to the police station.
Laxman Ram, station house officer of Nasirabad Sadar police station, denied the victims’ charges. “Maybe, people thrashed them before we reached them,” he said, denying the victims’ allegation that policemen were present during the attack.
“I asked them to file an FIR but they refused. We can still take action against the guilty if they come forward and register a case,” he added.
The Rajasthan State Commission for Minorities sought on Thursday a factual report on the attack shown in the video.