After a video of a differently-abled boy, who was beaten by Assam Police personnel at Bharalumukh in Guwahati, went viral on social media, state DGP on Friday termed it as “unfortunate”.
While addressing a press conference in the Assam Police headquarters on Friday, Assam DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said, “Assam Police must be service-minded and they should not behave like a boss.”
Mahanta admitted the mistake on the part of the police. However, he said this was an isolated incident and it is not the character of the Assam Police.
He informed that the city commissioner of police has ordered an inquiry into the case.
Palash Chaliha, a Facebook user in a post, shared a video of his son, a 17-year-old differently-abled boy, who was mercilessly beaten by Assam Police personnel on his back on Thursday.
The mark of beating was visible in the video.
Chaliha in the video said he along with his son went to buy medicine for his son on a bike, but they were stopped by police near the Bharalumukh police station, and without any rhyme or reason, his son was beaten by the cop on duty.
Chaliha said when he told the police that his son is differently-abled and they were on the way to collect medicine, the police officer on duty in Hindi threatened to send both of them behind the bars.
The incident took place after 6 pm. Curfew remains effective in Guwahati from 6 pm to 6 am and the movement of individuals is restricted during the curfew hours.
Reacting to the incident, additional director general of police (law & order), GP Singh assured of action against the erring policemen.
In a tweet, Singh said: “Reference Facebook post of Sri Palash Chaliha regarding policeman beating up Sri Chaliha’s child, who also happens to be a special child, please rest assured action would be taken against the erring policeman. No compromise on such issues.”
“CP Guwahati Police has ordered an inquiry to ascertain the causative factors and the incident itself to take further action,” Singh informed.
Reference Facebook post of Sri Palash Chaliha regarding policeman beating up Sri Chaliha’s child, who also happens to be a special child, please rest assured action would be taken against the erring policeman. No compromise on such issues. @GuwahatiPol @assampolice
— GP Singh (@gpsinghips) July 23, 2020
He also expressed regrets and sought apologies to the enlightened people of Assam for the incident.
Meanwhile, the incident has been condemned by the Leader of the Opposition in Assam Legislative Assembly and Congress leader Debabrata Saikia.
“Yesterday a differently-abled child was allegedly beaten up by police in the Bharalumukh area in Guwahati. Condemned such brutal behaviour of Assam police and urged the DGP
through a letter to punish the accused police personnel immediately,” Saikia said.