New Delhi: Three Chhattisgarh police officials were suspended after a video of them assaulting and harassing a young boy in Raipur emerged, according to a report in the Indian Express.
The incident, which reportedly took place on August 9 at the Sarona railway station located on Raipur’s outskirts, came to prominence on Thursday after a video showing the young boy being manhandled by three men, including one in a police uniform, emerged. All three men were later identified as police officials.
The video showed the child, holding a plastic bag, screaming while the police officials assaulted him.
The three police officers have since been arrested and are likely to face criminal prosecution, senior police officials told the Indian Express.
They also claimed that enquiries revealed that the boy was one of two boys who had been chased out of a train by a man who accused them of pickpocketing. While one of the two boys ran away, the other was caught by the policemen and assaulted. “We are now tracing the child, and will try and get a statement registered,” a senior police officer said.
Also read | Chhattisgarh Government Under Fire as NHRC Faults Failure to Act on Mass Sexual Assault by Police
The Superintendent of Police, Arif Sheikh said that investigations were still on and that the police had “taken cognisance” of their actions and suspended them. “After the video came to my notice, I immediately suspended the policemen on Tuesday night. I have also ordered a departmental inquiry into the matter,” Sheikh told NDTV.
Those suspended are constables Anil Rajput, Mukesh Thakur and Krishna Rajput, posted at Kabir Nagar, Saraswati Nagar and Amanaka police stations, respectively, he said.
The Inspector General of Police, Raipur range Anand Chhabra condemned the actions of the three policemen and said that the police were in the process of tracing the young boy.
The Director General of Police, D.M. Awasthi told the Indian Express that after taking cognisance of the case, he had recommended the filing of a criminal case. “No criminality by men in uniform will be tolerated at all. Even in the recent past, we have taken criminal action against errant police officials if there is prima facie evidence,” he said.
(With inputs from PTI)