On Saturday, visuals of two young men in Bengaluru being assaulted emerged on social media platforms. In the video, a man wearing a police helmet and a handkerchief covering his face is seen questioning the two young men, who are standing near a two-wheeler. The man, who was in plain clothes, then orders them to sit down while the two look terrified; he then kicks one of the two young men on the shoulder, forcing him to sit down.
Immediately, another man with a black face mask, who was standing along with the crowd watching the incident, starts hitting the two with a log, which he was already holding in his hand. Soon, a police official enters the frame and stops the man in black face mask, while the two young men are visibly in pain. This incident allegedly took place on Friday at Sahakara Nagar in Bengaluru.
Dear @cpblr
— Kamran (@CitizenKamran) May 9, 2020
A very sad video to wake up to this morning
I never expected such blatant violation of human rights 4m Bengaluru police. @Sowmyareddyr @bsybjp @MohanDasari_ @VEERenuka @aapkaprithvi @siddaramaiah@WFRising @DarshanDevaiahB @AAPBangalore @prempanicker @Kanagalogy pic.twitter.com/q2qB0pGPwY
According to a report by the Deccan Herald, three men were allegedly riding triples on a scooter and performing stunts on their bikes in Sahakarnagar on Friday. While the third man is allegedly out of the frame, the other two were caught, questioned and assaulted. According to reports, the men were stopped after panic spread because of rumours that they were from Padarayanapura ward — a ward that has been sealed due to the high number of COVID-19 cases there.
The DH report said that a case has been registered at Kodigehalli police station and the police are trying to verify if the man in the helmet is a policeman himself. Police officials were unavailable for comment when TNM tried reaching out.
Bheemashankar S Guled, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-East), told Deccan Herald the suspected police officer caught assaulting the men was not from the division. He assured that the police will take necessary action against him once he is identified.
A case of assault has also been registered against the residents of the area. According to reports, the police have detained one of the residents to probe how the assault started.
The policeman who stopped the assault took the men who were allegedly riding triples, to the police station in a patrol vehicle. Later, the three men were also taken to the KC General Hospital for a medical checkup.
Commenting on the video of the incident, Sowmya Reddy, Congress MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) from Jayanagar, tweeted, “This kind of behaviour on a human being by our Bengaluru police is just not acceptable. Sir, I’m sure this has come to your notice. What action have you taken on these policemen who have behaved like this?”
@CPBlr @CMofKarnataka @BSYBJP @BSBommai @deepolice12 This kind of behaviour on a human being by our Bengaluru police is just not acceptable. Sir, I’m sure this has come to your notice what action have you taken on these policemen who have behaved like this? Kindly update. Thanks https://t.co/YgRqrqjpoa
— Sowmya Reddy (@Sowmyareddyr) May 9, 2020
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