Two persons were allegedly manhandled for not wearing a mask by the Wayanad district police in Kerala on Tuesday. The allegations raised by Popular Front of India (PFI) on Wednesday claimed that two persons were kept at the Thalappuzha police station for over 8 hours and assaulted brutally.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the Wayanad district secretary of PFI S Muneer said two natives of Peechamkode, M Iqbal and KK Shameer on Tuesday were at a spare parts shop when the police questioned them over not wearing a mask.
The victims were ready to pay the fine, says Muneer, however the police took the two men to the police station where they were allegedly kept for over 8 hours and assaulted. Muneer also alleged that the victims were not allowed to contact their families and denied medical assistance. It is also alleged that the police officers made communal remarks against the youth and non-bailable offences were slapped against the two men for petty offences. PFI has written to the State Human Rights Commission and senior police officers over the incident.
Iqbal is said to have suffered injuries to his eye and requires advanced treatment, reported The New Indian Express.
However, speaking to TNM on Thursday, PK Jijeesh the Station House Officer (SHO) for Thalappuzha police station denied allegations that the two men were assaulted and instead claimed that it was he who was assaulted. "We asked the two men to wear a mask but they behaved rudely and assaulted me, that’s when we brought them to the police station. Inside my room at the police station, Iqbal started beating himself up. He was hurting himself,” The SHO said. The officer insists neither he nor his officers hit the two men with ties to PFI and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).
“We did not hit him, instead they are alleging that we hit them in public, but that is also not true. The public saw what happened at the spare parts shop, I have their support. But the CCTV cameras at my station is not working and so I don’t have proof that the man hurt himself inside the station,” says Jijeesh who added that the two men had pending cases registered at other police stations against them, for culpable homicide and murder, ”These allegations are politically motivated," the officer added.