The State government on Tuesday ordered a probe into incident filmed in a video clip that went viral on social media. It showed a policeman, Ganesh Lal Tatma, doing sit-ups and apologising with folded hands before Araria District Agriculture Officer Manoj Kumar and others present.
Mr. Tatma had allegedly enraged the officer by stopping the latter’s vehicle and asking for a vehicle pass in view of the ongoing lockdown . He was asked to do 50 sit-ups while someone made a video of it.
In a nearly 20-second long video clip, the policeman, with his head and face covered with a black bandana, is seen doing sit-ups and apologising. Mr. Kumar, though, is not seen wearing a mask. He allegedly threatened the policeman with sending him to jail, had he (the officer) not been in a hurry to attend a video conference with officials.
The incident is said to have occurred on April 21 near Surajpur pul (bridge) under the Jokihat Police Station of the district. The video surfaced on Tuesday.
Soon after the video went viral on social media, State Director General of Police (DGP) Gupteshwar Pandey took note of the incident and stated that action would be taken after a probe.
‘It is shameful’
The DGP said that he had asked senior District Police officials to probe the unpleasant incident. “It is shameful. Whoever is found guilty will not be spared and action will be taken against them. I have informed the authorities about the incident,” Mr. Pandey told journalists.
State Agricultural Minister Prem Kumar, too, ordered a probe and asked senior officials of his department to submit a report within 24 hours.
Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Tejashwi Yadav slammed the State government for letting “bureaucracy run the show” during the lockdown.
He tweeted: “Bureaucracy is unbridled in Bihar. How a District Agriculture Officer is making an elderly chowkidar [policeman] do sit-ups as the dutiful chowkidar just asked [the officer] to show a valid pass.”
