BHOPAL: Three cops have been attached to the district police lines after a probe found them guilty of involvement in the October 3 stripping and thrashing of a group of farmers at Tikamgarh Dehat police station in Tikamgarh district.
The action against the three cops was taken on the basis of the findings of a probe conducted into the incident by the deputy inspector general of police (DIG-Chhatarpur) KC Jain.
“Three policemen, including assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Bhagwat Namdev, head constable Gokul Marawi and constable Ram Sohan Anuragi have been removed from the present posting and attached to district police lines,” said officiating inspector general of police (IG Law and Order) Sanjeev Shami on Friday.
The probe, conducted by DIG-Chhatarpur, found prima facie that the three cops were involved in the incident. A detailed departmental enquiry will now be initiated against them.
Meanwhile, a delegation of the opposition Congress party, led by the Madhya Pradesh state party chief Arun Yadav met National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) member Sarat Chandra Sinha in the NHRC office in New Delhi on Friday and demanded that Tikamgarh district collector and the superintendent of police be suspended in connection with the incident.
The NHRC had taken suo moto cognizance of the incident and sought a detailed report from the Madhya Pradesh chief secretary and the state DGP within four weeks.
On October 3, a large number of farmers, led by Congress MLA Yadvendra Singh and Youth Congress leader Kunal Chaudhary, gathered outside the Tikamgarh collectorate demanding that the district is declared drought-hit.
The protestors wanted to submit a memorandum to the district collector. But with the collector not coming out to take the memorandum for around an hour and a half, angry protestors resorted to stone pelting on police. The police subsequently used force to disperse them.
When a group of farmers was returning to their villages after taking part in protests, they were intercepted by cops who took them to the Tikamgarh Dehat police station, where they were allegedly forced to strip into underwear and thrashed subsequently.
Acting in the matter, the state government had ordered a probe into the matter by DIG (Chhatarpur) KC Jain.