Exec goes to human rights panel, alleges detention in lockup over dog squabble

Noida: An IT professional has filed a complaint with the human rights commission, alleging that he was detained illegally for nearly a whole day in a lockup last month after he approached police to complain about a scuffle with a neighbour on whom he used pepper spray.
Mukund Kumar, a resident of JM Florence at Greater Noiuda's Techzone-4, told TOI on Wednesday police denied him his right to legal aid and confiscated his mobile phone.
He also alleged that the cops did not register his complaint about the scuffle, which broke out over Kumar's pet dog, keeping him in a crammed lockup at Bisrakh police station with six others instead without providing food or water for 21 hours.
While Kumar was taken into custody, his wife spent the cold winter night outside the Cherry County police outpost, from where Kumar was taken to Bisrakh police station. He alleged police shared no information with her on his whereabouts as she grew more anxious.
Asked about Kumar’s accusation, Noida police commissioner Laxmi Singh said a DCP-level officer will inquire into the episode. “Facts of the case will be ascertained. We will proceed as per rules and manuals of the department, and the National Human Rights Commission,” she said.
Sources at the police station said Kumar had a "history of confrontations" with other residents of the society and was detained under Section 151 of the CrPC.
Differences between Kumar and some other residents had been simmering for a while over walking his pet in the common area. Kumar had started carrying pepper spray with him while walking his pet.
Around 8.30pm on December 23, Kumar and his wife were in the lift with their pet when a fellow resident allegedly held the lift doors open and asked the couple to exit.
“He started shouting, abusing and threatening me. Sensing danger, I had no choice but to use the pepper spray to protect my wife and myself. The resident then attacked me, and even tried to poke my eye. Evidence of the incident is there on the CCTV camera inside the elevator,” Kumar, a service delivery manager at a private company, said.
The society’s management team could not be reached for comment till Wednesday night.
Kumar said he immediately went to the nearby Cherry County police post with his wife to file a complaint over the scuffle. The neighbour with whom he had the confrontation was already there with some other society residents.
“Soon after, cops at the chowki took me and the neighbour to the Bisrakh police station in a police van. I told my wife, who was waiting outside the chowki, that I’ll be back soon. When we reached there, cops started abusing me and put me in a lockup around 9pm. They took my phone away, and I was not even given a pen and paper to write my complaint. I suffered in the cold with no food and water. Despite my bruises, I was not sent for a check-up,” Kumar said.
He said he was let out around 6pm the next day. On January 10, he filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission, which forwarded it to the state panel.
“The entire episode left me with low self-esteem,” Kumar added.
Police sources had a different version of the December 23 incident. They said a family in the lift had asked Kumar and his wife to take the other elevator because their dog did not have a muzzle on.
“Instead of heeding their request, Kumar started arguing. As it escalated, he took out the spray and used it on the neighbour. He kept arguing even as other residents gathered,” a senior officer said.
The officer said there were complaints of Kumar using the spray on other residents in the past.
CrPC Section 151 law allows cops to make arrests without a warrant or magistrate’s orders if they know of a “design to commit a cognisable offence” that cannot be prevented otherwise. The person cannot be detained for more than 24 hours.