Andhra Pradesh cop suspended for kicking and slapping complainant
The Andhra Pradesh Police said it will not tolerate highhanded behaviour in the force.
The Andhra Pradesh police on Wednesday suspended a police inspector in Srikakulam district for allegedly kicking and beating a villager who went to the police station to complain about a dispute over distribution of house sites on Tuesday.
A video of the inspector, C Venugopal of Palasa-Kasigbugga town police station, kicking Marri Jagan from Tekkalipatnam village of Palasa block on his stomach and slapping him a couple of times, went viral in the social media, triggering protests from opposition parties and local Scheduled Caste organisations.
Following instructions from state deputy chief minister Dharmana Krishna Das, district superintendent of police Amit Bardar and deputy inspector general L K V Ranga Rao ordered a probe into the incident and took action against the erring police inspector.
Amit Bardar told reporters later in the afternoon that Venugopal had been placed under suspension and a probe had been ordered. Condemning the behaviour of the inspector against the villager, he apologised to the victim’s family on behalf of the police. “We shall take measures to prevent recurrence of such instances in future,” he assured.
Andhra Pradesh director general of police Gautam Sawang also said such “highhanded behaviour is not acceptable in the police department.”
The AP police, through its Twitter handle, said it will not tolerate highhanded behavior.
“An incident was reported regarding Police behaviour with Youth in Srikakulam Dist. Inspector Kasibugga has been suspended for his highhanded #behaviour. An enquiry has also been ordered to go into the facts. Such behaviour cannot be tolerated within #APPolice & @POLICESRIKAKULM,” it tweeted.
According to the police, the family of Marri Jagan had a dispute over land patta with some others in the village. On Tuesday evening, Jagan and his mother went to the Kasibugga police station to lodge a complaint.
The inspector suddenly got angry and kicked the man out of the police station and slapped him repeatedly. The victim’s mother came to his rescue and took him away.
Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu tweeted the video of the attack and condemned the attack on the youth: “Shocking! Under orders from YSRCP Leaders, a Dalit man who went to lodge a complaint at the Police Station in Palasa, Srikakulam, was kicked & slapped by police even as his mother wailed & tried protecting her son. When will this YSRCP sponsored brutality & madness stop in AP?”
Naidu’s son and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh also condemned the incident and accused the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government of being a mute spectator to the attacks on Dalits.