HYDERABAD: In yet another incident of alleged police torture, Royya Srinivasulu, 48, who belongs to the Scheduled Castes (SC) community, was reportedly tortured by the police in Nalgonda district. The incident, which allegedly took place in November, came to light after the videos of police personnel purportedly negotiating with Srinivasulu’s family members for a settlement went viral on social media.
Srinivasulu’s family alleged that he was falsely implicated in a land dispute case and he was taken to Nalgonda Town-II police station in regard to the case, and tortured severely, leading to a fracture on his right leg.
Nalgonda Superintendent of Police AV Ranganath stated that Srinivasulu was involved in a cheating case and was summoned to the police station for serving notice and was let off. He also clarified that a video of a man being beaten up by police circulating on social media platforms is fake. He has also ordered a detailed probe into the allegation of torture in the police station. “We will take strict action against police personnel if they are found to be at fault,” he added.
Speaking to Express, Royya Krishna Prasad, Srinivasulu’s younger brother, mentioned that Srinivasulu was the mediator in a land deal. After noticing that a structure had come up, the buyer and seller, along with Srinivasulu, approached the police. The police asked them to survey the land and proceed with the deal after that.A few days later, when they went to the Nalgonda Town-II police station, the sub-inspector (SI) told the three parties to leave the land as some higher-ups from the Police Department were interested in the land, he added.
However, in July, a case was registered after the buyer reportedly filed a cheating case against Srinivasulu. There was no action from police since then, but in November, he was taken to the police station and allegedly beaten up by the SI, a trainee SI and a constable. Later, his wife and teenage son were also summoned. “The SI, while beating my brother, told my sister-in-law and nephew that the situation would get worse if they didn’t arrange money to clear the deal,” Krishna Prasad said.
Later, when Srinivasulu was admitted to a hospital, the police got to know about it and rushed to him offering compensation and treatment expenses while asking him to not file a complaint against them. Videos of police personnel negotiating with the family at the hospital also showed the police not allowing the family members to take videos. Medical reports showed that Srinivasulu had a fracture in his right leg and injuries on other parts of the body. His family members approached the High Court seeking justice.
The court served notices to the police personnel and posted the next hearing to December 7. “If he was called to the police station for serving notices, I request the police to release the CCTV footage of that day from the police station to clear out the confusion,” said Krishna Prasad. Srinivasulu is currently recovering at home and the surgery on his right leg has been postponed due to health complications.