BHOPAL: The local police on Sunday booked four men for allegedly thrashing and stripping a Dalit drum player over suspicion of being involved in a theft in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh.
Aditya, who is in his mid-twenties, was stripped by the men to check his religious identity, his mother has alleged.
However, it was Aditya who was first arrested by the police over charges of trespassing and theft on the night of Aug. 2 at Narmada Food Factory in Nimrani Industrial Area. The police booked Aditya on Aug. 3, after which he was sent to jail.
After a video showing Aditya getting thrashed went viral on Sunday, the police booked four men, identified as Rambilas Chaudhary, Ritesh Sharma, Babloo Daudwe and Chetan Patil, for criminal assault. They are yet to be arrested.
The police sub inspector in-charge of the Khaltaka police outpost, Rajendra Baghel, has been suspended by Khargone police superintendent Dharmaveer Singh for not properly investigating the matter. Sub divisional officer police MS Gavle has been asked to conduct an enquiry against the suspended sub inspector.
“A case was first lodged against three men, including the one who was handed over to police, on the complaint of the factory’s chowkidar. They were booked for trespassing and theft,” Singh told this newspaper.
“However, a video in which the man accused of theft was seen being assaulted by other men went viral, after which a case of criminal assault was lodged against the four men. The in-charge of the concerned police chowki has been suspended and an enquiry has been initiated. The man arrested (who’s seen being assaulted in the video) has been accused in theft cases in the past also,” he added.
However, Aditya’s mother says her son is a small-time drum beater, and that he was framed in a false case.
Singh, however, said the police probe so far hasn’t shown that Aditya was stripped to check his religious identity.
“One of those accused of assaulting him, hails from the same village. So they knew him quite well,” he said.