Supreme Court lawyer beaten by Sahibabad police, forced to consume liquor
Supreme Court lawyer beaten by Sahibabad police, forced to consume liquor
Generally, lawyers and cops work together against the criminal. But on Sunday, one turned against the other, when a few drunken cops under the Sahibabad police station in Uttar Pradesh reportedly thrashed a Supreme Court lawyer.
The 25-year-old lawyer, Vivek Bhati, a resident of Shalimar Garden in Shahibabad, said he was also forced to consume liquor so that the cops could register a false case of drunk driving against him.
Though Bhati has decided to fight the cops, he is shocked at the lawlessness in his locality. "I have lived in this area for most of my life. I was aware it had many corrupt and high-headed policemen but I realised how bad the situation was when I became a victim myself," Bhati said.
Minor mishap
The young lawyer said he was attacked by the cops on Sunday afternoon when he was returning home from office.
"The roads were packed with vehicles and there was very little space to drive. The weekly bazaar made the situation worse. My bike accidentally hit a constable from behind. But it had merely touched his legs and he started abusing him. When I asked him to behave, he charged towards me," said Bhati.
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Reportedly, the constable, Salim, was joined by three other policemen who thrashed Bhati in broad daylight.
When Bhati showed them his identity card, they snatched it and his mobile phone and forced him into their police van. "They took him to the Shahibabad police station and in the van too they kept slapping and threatening him. They did not even allow him to make a telephone call," said Bhati's cousin Vinay Pratap.
Handcuffed to hospital
Bhati's said after reaching the police station, the station in charge, Inspector Surajpal Singh, ordered for his medical examination. "Before I could realise anything, I was handcuffed and rushed to MMG Hospital for medical examination. About a kilometre before the hospital the cops stopped the vehicle and asked me to consume liquor which they had purchased from a nearby liquor shop. When I protested, they thrust the bottle into my mouth," Bhati said. Furious over the protests, the policemen allegedly dragged Bhati out of the van and started beating him with their rifle butts. In the hospital, Bhati alleged he was asked to sign a few documents by the doctors which he refused to. But reportedly he was beaten up again by the cops.
"After that he was taken back to the police station. Someone who saw the entire incident informed us and we rushed to the Shahibabad police station. We were shocked to see his condition. He could barely walk on his own," said Bhati's mother.
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His family members at the Shalimar Garden police chowki. Bhati, a lawyer in SC, was thrashed by cops from UP police after a minor argument. The cops made him consume liquor to lodge a false case of drunk driving against him.u00a0 PIC/IMTIYAZ KHAN |
The Other SideSub-inspector Roshan Singh at the Shalimar Garden police post, who received the FIR filed by the Bhatis, said, "I have no idea about the incident. I was not present when it happened. But we will investigate the case in a fair manner and the guilty will be punished."
Senior Superintendent of Police, Ghaziabad, Akhilesh Kumar, couldn't be contacted.
'We will fight'Bhati's father, Satpal Bhati, who is also a practising lawyer in Ghaziabad District Court, along with his relatives rushed to the police station. "We have registered an FIR against the cops and a copy has been forwarded to the district SSP also. If the cops can do this to my son who is a lawyer at Supreme Court, imagine what they would have done to any other person. We will not rest till the guilty cops are punished," he said.
