A BJP MLA from Gorakhpur has landed in a controversy after he was caught on camera allegedly berating a woman IPS officer for trying to evict anti-liquor protesters.
ASP Charu Nigam is seen breaking into tears as BJP MLA Radha Mohan Agarwal reprimands her.
The incident took place on Sunday when the police attempted to evict locals who had blocked the road while protesting against the re-opening of liquor shops in the Kareemnagar area of Gorakhpur. The district is the home turf of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Alleges assault
Mr. Agarwal, who has been leading their agitation, reached the site and demanded that the police free the agitators. He alleged that the police assaulted many protesters, including a pregnant woman.
Mr. Agarwal is seen yelling at Ms. Nigam, who is the circle officer of Gorakhnath, in the presence of locals and officials. In the video, Mr. Agarwal is shown telling the officer, “Don’t cross your limits,” even as he flatly dismisses her, refusing to hear her.
Ms. Nigam is seconds later seen wiping her tears with a handkerchief, even as her senior police officer and Gorakhpur SP, Ganesh Saha, emerges into the frame and speaks to the MLA.
The video has gone viral and triggered outrage on social media, with most pointing fingers at the legislator for acting rudely with a woman officer.
Association condemns
The IPS Officers Association on Monday “condemned” the incident and called for action in the case. “If interference in law enforcement goes unpunished, the ability of police to protect people gets eroded,” the association said after a meeting.
According to Mr. Agarwal, Ms. Nigam “unnecessarily” barged into the conversation while he was speaking to the local SDM, adding that she was not “authorised” to speak in between when a senior official like SDM was already engaged. He accused her of indiscipline for speaking out of turn.
“The old women were demanding that the illicit liquor shops be shut. But the police allowed these shops to be re-opened 15 days after a government order shut down three shops. They brutally assaulted the protesters. A pregnant woman was kicked in the abdomen. Those who were beaten up, were they not women,” Mr. Agarwal asked.
The MLA denied he mistreated the officer. “All I told her was that I will speak to the SDM, not to you,” Mr. Agarwal said, refusing to apologise to the woman officer for the incident.
Ms. Nigam later clarified that she did not weep due to the MLA’s outburst but that she got “emotional” after her senior officer stepped in to support her. She justified the “mild force” used by the police on the protesters to disperse them.
She took to Facebook to thank people and media for their support to her.
