Click to play videoNew Delhi/Bhagalpur: On Tuesday, gory images of police brutality in the Bihar town of Bhagalpur shocked the country and triggered mob violence in the communally sensitive town.
It all started on Monday morning when an angry mob of local residents began thrashing a suspected thief in the Nath Nagar area for chain snatching.
While the chain was recovered sometime later, the irate mob – bent on lynching the thief, Salim – continued to bash him up.
Shockingly, the residents were encouraged and even helped by the local police. Together, they continued to thrash Salim on the streets of Bhagalpur, in full public view, for three hours.
Salim was tied to a policeman's motorcycle and dragged around town, leaving him critically ill in a hospital.
It was then that a local journalist caught the brutality of sub-inspector Ram Chandra Yadav, constable L B Singh and others on camera.
The footage was soon on all national news channels, provoking angry protests and allegations of communal bias from Salim's family.
After the footage of the incident – showing Salim crying out in pain for help – Yadav and Singh were suspended and an inquiry was ordered.
Riots ghost haunts Bhagalpur
Bhagalpur, infamous for 1989 riots, remained tense through Tuesday as the victim's community turned violent and pelted stones at police vehicles.
Late on Tuesday, rumours of Salim’s death also started doing the rounds, adding fuel to fire. An irate mob surrounded the Nath Nagar police station and pelted stones.
Senior police officials, including the Inspector General of Police (Bhagalpur range) had a tough time trying to pacify the agitators. They even had to fire in the air
A police team later took some of the protestors to the hospital where the accused was admitted to show them that the victim was alive and undergoing treatment, official sources said.
No one was injured in the stone-throwing incident, they said.
’They have maligned police department’
Spokesman for Bihar Police Anil Sinha told CNN-IBN the state’s police force condemned the incident.
“We condemn the police action in all earnest. We are concerned citizens of the country and we don’t just condone this. We have suspended the erring policemen, lodged an FIR and issued show-cause notices against them. Dismissal proceedings have also been initiated,” he said.
However, Sinha denied there was a communal angle to the situation. “It’s not a communal situation. There is not even an iota of truth in such rumours. It’s just that the mob was trying to lynch him, and police reacted badly. It’s a case of human rights violation,” he said.
Sinha said the police action had brought bad name to the state police. “The policemen acted in extra-judicial manner. They have brought infamy to us (sic). There are policemen who do real good work but it’s because of such people that the department gets a bad name,” he said.
The incident has also acquired political colours with state Opposition up in arms against Nitish Kumar’s government. RJD chief Lalu Yadav did not shy away from raking up the religious angle involved in the incident.
“If such instances are happening against the minority community, you can see for yourself the misrule. Strict action must be taken against the policemen involved,” he said.
The National Human Rights Commission has also taken note of the incident and has asked for a detailed report from the state.
The police are now trying to identify individual attackers in the mob by using the camera footage and say it should not be too difficult considering that nobody in the mob tried to cover their faces or hide their identity.
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