“Please spare my father, please don’t beat him,” a child kept pleading in Wanaparthy town even as the police assaulted his father for violating lockdown norms on Wednesday. Similar incidents of police high-handedness in Telangana continued unabated, despite being brought to the notice of both the police and political bosses.
The viral video shot by a bystander shows around half-a-dozen policemen, including two traffic personnel, thrashing the man on the road, in front of his son. The video shows a police constable in mufti pinning the father of a10-year-old boy to the ground amidst a group of policemen, who did precious little to stop the assault.
According to the police, the incident took place on Wednesday evening when Murali Krishna, a resident of Wanaparthy town was stopped and questioned for venturing out on streets for ‘no reason’. He was reportedly going to his in-laws’ house a few kilometres from the district headquarters, to drop his son after purchasing groceries.
“He picked up an argument with the police for stopping and trying to seize his bike for having 13 pending challans of ₹2,820. In a fit of rage, Mr. Murali hit a police constable Ashok Kumar, provoking other constables present on the spot to overpower him and push him down,” an officer said.
The scuffle, which went on for a few minutes, ended only after the father-son duo were bundled into a police vehicle, and taken to the police station for questioning, where Mr. Murali Krishna was let off after a case was registered against him. On-duty constable Mr. Ashok is posted at the Central Crime Station, Wanaparthy, while Mr. Murali works for a private firm in Malkajgiri here.
The incident became so viral on social media that even IT and Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao tweeted about it, and it comes only a day after Wanaparthy DSP K.M. Kiran Kumar threatened villagers with thrashing their buttocks so hard that their ‘flesh would fly off from their bodies’. In his tweet, Mr. Rao condemned the police brutality and said the exceptionally good work of thousands of policemen is undone by the erratic behaviour of a few. He further told Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali and DGP M Mahender Reddy that “this attitude of the police is unacceptable in ANY circumstances.”
“Request you to take the strictest action on incidents such as this. All the exceptionally good work of thousands of policemen is undone by erratic behaviour of few,” the tweet further read.
Responding to the Minister’s tweet, Wanaparthy Superintendent of Police Apoorva Rao said that they apologise to the citizens for such ‘behaviour’ by an on-duty constable. “This incident has been enquired into and strict disciplinary action has been initiated on the person responsible. We will ensure that such incidents do not repeat,” she tweeted. A few hours later, Ms. Rao took to twitter again and said the constable in question was placed under suspension.
Several twitteratti expressed their angst against the police stating that if the Minister did not intervene the incident could have been overlooked as any other police brutality.
