CRPF jawan alleges assault by police

Pune: A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan on Sunday alleged that he was beaten up by policemen at Baramati taluka police station, under Pune rural police jurisdiction, when he had gone there to get permission for a gathering to pay tribute to the CRPF jawans martyred in the Pulwama terror attack. 

However, the police have denied the allegation and said that he had come riding triple seat and tried to create a ruckus in the police station. The police questioned why the CRPF jawan was in uniform when on leave. 

Ashok Baburao Ingawale, the jawan from Songaon, had gone to Baramati taluka police station on Sunday as he and his friends wanted to organise a condolence meeting in the village. 

Ingawale said, “The martyrs include some of my close friends. Hence I wanted to organise the condolence meeting and hence I went to the police station to get the permission for the gathering. However, a policeman started abusing me for riding triple seat on a two-wheeler. When I asked him to show respect to my uniform, a policeman hit me. He was joined by others and they dragged me to a room and mercilessly beat me up. I was also put in the lock-up. Strict action must be taken against those policemen.”

After the incident came to light, Superintendent of Police (Pune Rural) Sandeep Patil ordered an inquiry into the incident, which will be conducted by Additional SP (Baramati Division) Sandeep Pakhale.
 
In a written statement, the police said, “The jawan had got upset for being questioned about riding triple seat.  When he was asked about triple seat riding, there was an argument between the jawan and a policeman. He was reported to the station duty officer but he got upset and damaged a chair. He was not assaulted by the police and neither detained.”