A man was beaten up allegedly by police personnel attached to the Edathala police station near Aluva on Tuesday after his bike collided with the car they were traveling in.
According to reports, Usman, who is in his 40s, suffered serious injuries and may require surgery. He has been admitted at a private hospital in Aluva.
It all began on Tuesday evening when a team of police personnel was on their way to the police station after nabbing an accused under the POSCO Act. They were in mufti and were traveling in a car.
The car then collided with the bike Usman was riding near Edathala. Since the police personnel were in mufti, Usman was not able recognize them. “A verbal fight began between them and the police slapped him on his face. They even took him to the police station and beaten up at the station,” a source alleged.
Usman was later released after the local persons gathered at the station in large numbers.
On Wednesday morning, locals and opposition political parties staged a protest in front of the Edathala police station. Four police personnel have been booked under section 343 of the IPC for wrongfully confining a person. “Usman has identified only one person among the four police personnel. He is Afsal driver of the police vehicle,” Aluva DySP Prafulla Chandran said.
When asked if there was prima facie inquiry done by the police, Chandran said that no inquiry has been done so far. He also refuted media reports suggesting that he had handed over a report stating that Usman had initiated the fight, beating up the police. “I haven’’ given any report,” said the DySP.
Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, CPI(M) State Secretary, however, told media that it was the police personnel attached to the pro-Congress association who are problematic in the force.
This is the third such controversy in the recent past involving the police.
In May, Kevin, a 23-year-old Kottayam native was abducted and killed by his wife’s kin after the police delayed action on a missing complaint filed by his family. In April, Sreejith, a youth from Varapuzha in Ernakulam succumbed to his injuries following custodial torture.
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