Cops thrash hawker in Ganga Jamuna for ‘blocking road’

Nagpur: In what one would describe as a filmy-style incident, a cop brutally thrashed a hawker for selling snacks at night in the city’s red light area. The incident took place at around 9.30pm under the jurisdiction of Lakadganj police station on Monday.
Bhupendra has been a hawker for at least one and a half decade and he never had a problem with law. But on Monday night, everything changed for 34-year-old Bhupendra, who was brutally bashed up and publicly humiliated by Lakadganj police for selling snacks late in the evening.
A native of Madhya Pradesh, Bhupendra said he stays at a rented place near Rani Durgawati Chowk. For a family of four, Bhupendra is the only breadwinner. “I never faced any harassment from the local police until Monday,” he told TOI.
Bhupendra said, “My only fault was I stopped the hand cart in one of the narrow lanes to serve food to one of the customers. Two cops from Ganga Jamuna police chowky asked me to leave and make way for traffic. I asked them to give me a moment as I was serving food.”
And then he has no clue as to what triggered the police personnel to beat him. “I was shocked when they suddenly started beating me with sticks. They mercilessly thrashed me on my back, shoulder and thighs,” he said. Bhupendra also shared images of his injuries with TOI.
Eyewitnesses told TOI that the cops first scolded him, but did not stop there. They then bashed him brutally with their ‘dandas’. Eyewitnesses termed the incident as cops’ brazen high-handedness against citizens.
Activist Jwala Dhote expressed anguish over the incident and said she would raise the issue with South-West Nagpur MLA and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and apprise him about the inhuman act of Nagpur city policemen.
Dhote, who had taken up the fight for sex workers following commissioner of police Amitesh Kumar’s crackdown in the red light area under the PITA Act (Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act) on August 11, 2021, slammed the Lakadganj cops for their brutality heaped on a small vendor who did not pose any threat to the society. “The same cops turn a blind eye to saoji food joints serving liquor, hotels remaining open till midnight or beyond and shopkeepers encroaching roads,” pointed out Dhote.
CP Amitesh Kumar said he learnt about the incident from some people. “We are verifying the facts and trying to trace the hawker. Guilty will not be spared,” he said.
Recently, city MP and Union minister Nitin Gadkari had slammed Nagpur city police personnel for harassing vendors engaged in selling street food. “They not only harass food vendors but also consume food without even paying for it,” Gadkari had said at a function organized for hawkers in July.