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Delhi Police has suspended three policemen and launched a probe against them and four others for assaulting two persons and extorting money from them after accusing them of cow slaughter.
The incident happened on March 7 in north-east Delhi’s Anand Vihar when Mohd. Shoaib, 19, and his cousin Nawab, 21, New Mustafabad residents who work as meat suppliers, were returning home from the Ghazipur meat market.
In his complaint to the police, Mr. Nawab said they were hit by a scooter soon after reaching the Vivek Niketan traffic intersection. Subsequently, its rider demanded money from them for the damages. Mr. Nawab said three policemen — constable Sandeep, assistant sub-inspector Chandrabhan and PCR driver Sompal — reached the spot and forced the cousins to pay a sum to the rider. “Later, the policemen also demanded money from us. When we refused to pay, they called four men to the spot and accused us of cow slaughter,” Mr. Nawab said in his complaint. The group, including the four unidentified men and the policemen, allegedly drove the victims to an undisclosed location on Anand Vihar road, where they were assaulted. The police have registered an FIR on March 11 under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Shoaib’s father, Ishtiaq, alleged that the four men thrashed the two victims for two to three hours and made offensive statements about their religious identity. He added that the policemen did nothing as the assailants urinated on the faces of Mr. Shoaib and Mr. Nawab. “I received a call from the Anand Vihar police station saying that my son and nephew had sustained injuries. I found them outside the police station in a bad state and rushed them to the GTB hospital,” Mr. Ishtiaq said, adding that the four men fled the spot after attacking the victims.
