The UP Police said that it has ordered the suspension of Government Railway Police personnel, SHO Rakesh and Constable Sanjay Pawar, for a video that showed them beating up a journalist in Shamli. "Strict punishment shall be accorded to policemen misbehaving with citizens," tweeted the UP Police.
In the video a journalist can be seen being beaten up by the officials. The journalist is thrashed and slapped while he tries to reason with them.
We have come across a video where a journalist has been beaten up & put up in a lock up. DGP UP OP Singh has ordered for immediate suspension of SHO GRP Shamli Rakesh Kumar & Const. Sanjay Pawar.
Strict punishment shall be accorded to policemen misbehaving with citizens.
- UP POLICE (@Uppolice) June 12, 2019
The journalist later alleged that he was subjected to torture. As per ANI, the journalist is associated with a news channel. "They were in plain clothes. One hit my camera and it fell down. When I picked it up they hit and abused me. I was locked up, stripped and they urinated in my mouth," he said.
After the incident, the journalist was reportedly dragged to the GRP police station and was locked up. He was detained for the night before an order to release him was issued on Wednesday morning.
#WATCH Shamli: GRP personnel thrash a journalist who was covering the goods train derailment near Dhimanpura tonight. He says, "They were in plain clothes. One hit my camera&it fell down. When I picked it up they hit&abused me. I was locked up, stripped&they urinated in my mouth" pic.twitter.com/nS4hiyFF1G
- ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 11, 2019
In other videos circulating on Twitter, the journalist can be seen narrating what transpired from behind bars and the SHO rejecting his charges. The journalist also told his colleagues who were protesting his detention that he was tortured for writing a negative story on the railway police force.
This incident takes place a day after the Supreme Court ordered the release of journalist Prashant Kanojia who was apprehended for posting tweets on Yogi Adityanath. Kanojia was behind bars for three days before the court ordered his release.