The Madhya Pradesh police on Friday suspended two personnel for reportedly manhandling a man near a road checkpost in Barwani on Thursday.
In a video that went viral on social media a day later, the police are seen dragging Giani Prem Singh Granthi on the road. His turban comes untied in the scuffle and the policemen grab him by his hair, even as another man is heard shouting, “The police are beating us, not allowing us to set up shops.”
After Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal shared the video on Twitter describing it as a “beastly attack”, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said assistant sub-inspector Sitaram Bhatnagar and head constable Mohan Jamre had been suspended. “Such barbarism on Sikhs won’t be tolerated at any cost,” he said. The Inspector General of Police, Indore, would inquire into the matter and strict action would be taken against the two, he added.
The incident occurred while the police were checking motorists for helmets and masks, said Additional Superintendent of Police Sunita Rawat. “The man would not show documents for the motorcycle, which was without a number plate. So, we decided to take him with us,” she said.
Stating the man was drunk, Ms. Rawat added that when the personnel on duty in the Rajpur area tried to take him to a police station he started creating a scene and screaming. He fled the spot evading the police.
Mr. Granthi later told reporters he had set up a locks shop near the old police post in Palsud. He accused the Palsud police station in-charge and other officials of attempting to extort money from him, which he resisted leading to the incident.
Pointing out the man was publicly humiliated, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, president, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara management committee said “such barbarism had no place in a democracy”.
Former Chief Minister Kamal Nath said the action was disrespectful to the religious traditions of the Sikh religion. “Such incidents can’t be tolerated,” he said.