A 27-year-old techie working in Bengaluru has alleged that he was beaten up and robbed by Bengaluru police on Monday.
Venky Nallagutla, a native of Andhra Pradesh filed a complaint with DCP Abhishek Goyal on Wednesday alleging harassment at the hands of KR Puram traffic police and civil police officers.
The police officers from the station have denied all allegations and said that Venky who was under the influence of alcohol had picked up a fight with them.
Venky alleged that KR Puram traffic police beat him up and snatched away his gold chain, before taking him to civil police station.
On Monday evening, Venky’s cousin was booked for parking his vehicle at a no-parking zone at KR Puram bus station. The car bore AP registration.
Venky, who owned the car, reached the spot around 9.30 pm asked the police about the incident. He alleged that the policemen repeatedly hit him on his face demanding to know who he was and asked whether he could speak in Kannada.
Venky, who has been living in Bengaluru for the last two years, was unable to converse in Kannada fluently.
“They spoke to me in Kannada and a little bit of English. I tried to reason with them saying I own the car and that the driver in the car was my cousin. They continued to ask the same question, without telling me anything about the car,” Venky recounts.
According to Venky, he retorted that he was an Indian who had the right to ask questions, and this further irked the policemen. Venky claims they policemen snatched his gold chain.
The techie alleged that the same kind of treatment was meted out to them in the police station too and the officers present took his wallet away and confiscated his mobile.
In his complaint to the DCP, Venky alleged that he finally made a call to his family using another man’s phone.
The cops then demanded that they pay Rs 1000 towards fine.
“I agree my cousin violated traffic rules, and we had no issues in paying the fine. But after we paid the money, the cops said, ‘This money is towards fine, what about the money you need to pay us for letting you go?”
When the police returned his wallet, he says it was empty. Venky then went to an ATM to withdraw the money. The vehicle was released only the next day after Rs 1,000 more was paid.
What the cops say
Denying that they manhandled Venky, KR Puram traffic inspector Mahesh said that a case was filed against the driver for obstructing traffic.
"After we filed the case, Venky came and began to say that he was the driver's cousin and that he owned the car. He was under the influence of alcohol and began to argue with us. That is when we took them to the civil police station and filed a case against him," he said.
"He has complained that we harassed him and the DCP is looking into the complaint. He was drunk and created ruckus," he added.