A reporter from a national daily was slapped by a senior police officer while he was recording a video of the officer allegedly harassing a citizen creating awareness among voters on polling day.
The incident occurred at K.R. Puram polling booth around 1 p.m. on Thursday. According to the reporter, a man was standing 200 metres from the polling booth and holding a placard with the message: “Don’t sell your votes”. According to eyewitnesses, police personnel who were on security duty approached the man, snatched the placard and asked him to leave. However, he returned to the spot with another placard soon after. The police confiscated his placards, allegedly abused him verbally and took him to the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Whitefield sub-division), Krishnappa, who was in the area. “The ACP abused the man and threatened to put him behind bars if he did not leave,” said the reporter.
When Mr. Krishnappa saw the reporter recording the incident, he questioned him and allegedly slapped him. The video went viral on social media and was brought to the notice of Bhaskar Rao, the City Police Commissioner, who said he would conduct an inquiry.
