Agra: A milk vendor has alleged custodial torture at a police chowki under Chhatta police station, claiming he was beaten, had a toenail pulled out with pliers and was assaulted on the soles of his feet with lathis.
Following a complaint by the victim, Sayyed Ali Abbas, Deputy Commissioner of Police (City), suspended the in-charge of the Jeevni Mandi outpost and removed the station house officer (SHO) of Chhatta police station from his post.
The complainant, Narendra Kushwah (18), a resident of Veerai village in Saiyan, said he had come to the city with his elder brother Dheeraj (24) to sell milk door-to-door. In his complaint, Kushwah stated that around 11 am on December 2, they were supplying milk in the Garib Nagar area under Jeevni Mandi. While Dheeraj went to deliver milk, Narendra stayed behind on the tempo.
“At that time, the sub-inspector of the Jeevni Mandi police chowki, Ravi Kumar, arrived with four other policemen and asked me to move the tempo,” Kushwah alleged. “I told them my brother drives the vehicle and I couldn’t move it myself. I said we would shift it once he returned.”
According to the complaint, the policemen then took him to the chowki, where he was beaten with batons, dragged by the collar and struck repeatedly on the soles of his feet. Kushwah further alleged that a toenail was pulled out with pliers and that ₹1,800 was taken from his pocket. He was later challaned under provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). “I suffered serious injuries due to the assault,” he told officials.
Speaking to The Times of India, DCP Abbas said the Jeevni Mandi chowki in-charge, SI Ravi Kumar, had been suspended, and Chhatta SHO Pramod Kumar had been removed. “The area ACP has been directed to investigate the matter and submit a report within 48 hours,” he said.
Sources said the outpost in-charge allegedly threw Narendra to the ground before ordering accompanying constables to beat him on the soles with sticks.
