Vendor claims cops hit him, son

Vadodara: A vegetable vendor has accused the police of hitting him and his son when they were selling veggies on Karodiya Road on Tuesday morning. Nagendra Giri said that three to four cops approached him and asked him not to sell veggies at that spot.
“I have a tempo, but there was no work for the past 40 days. So, I began selling vegetables and while me and my son were selling vegetables on Karodiya road on Wednesday, four cops approached us in civil dress and threatened to seize the tempo. They also argued with me and hit me in my eye,” Giri claimed, adding that they also thrashed his 16-year-old son.
Giri, who has already given an application to the police regarding the incident, claimed that he got scared and fled from the spot with his tempo.
“I had permission from Karodiya village panchayat to sell the veggies. I don’t know why they beat me without asking for any explanation. In such crisis, can’t we earn and feed our family without any fear,” he added.
When asked about the incident, Jawaharnagar in-charge police inspector, Bhavesh Shingrakhiya claimed that no vegetable vendor was beaten up. “We have asked all the vendors in the area to sell veggies on an open ground there. But this vendor didn’t listen to us despite being told a few times.
When the cops were asking him to move from there, the weighing scale hit his son’s hands. He wasn’t beaten by the cops,” Shingrakhiya said.
“His claims of being beaten and the injury marks are not true. Even the owner of the house that Giri stays was caught last year for making spurious liquor. So, we guess that all these claims of cops thrashing him are motivated,” Shingrakhiya said.