The Coimbatore City Police have given strict instructions to personnel attached to all the police stations and traffic units to maintain composure while doing regular duty and enforcing restrictions announced by the State government for the management COVID-19 pandemic.
The instructions were given after a Sub-Inspector attached to the Kattoor police station was caught on camera beating up the diners and the staff of a hotel at Gandhipuram with a lathi on Sunday night. The officer, Muthu, was placed under suspension on Monday evening after the incident drew strong criticism from various quarters.
City Police Commissioner S. Davidson Devasirvatham said Assistant Commissioners of Police for each division had been directed to instruct all personnel in their jurisdiction to ensure compliance to the instructions.
“Use of lathi, force or abusive words to enforce compliance to government instructions should be avoided. If any individual or establishment is found to have made a violation, the police can register a case or impose fine as per the rules,” he told The Hindu .
SI Muthu was suspended based on the findings of a preliminary investigation conducted into the incident.
The inquiry found that Muthu, who was on night rounds, entered Sri Raja Hotel on the premises of the Gandhipuram central bus stand at 10.21 p.m. on Sunday and beat up the hotel staff and a few customers with a lathi. The hotel was allowed to function till 11 p.m. as per the latest instructions given by the government.
Asked whether the SI will be booked for beating up people, Mr. Devasirvatham said the police were waiting for an intimation and report from the hospital where the injured persons had sought treatment.
Meanwhile, the police said they did not receive any complaint against another SI attached to Kuniamuthur station who was seen in a surveillance camera visual beating up an employee of a bakery with lathi on the night of March 29 this year.
