The internet was flooded with outrage after a picture of 8 men standing in underwear with folding hands in a police station went viral. Two cops have been suspended for removing the clothes of a journalist and protesters at the police station in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh.
Taking cognizance of the matter, CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan has issued directions to get the matter investigated by the Additional Superintendent of Police.
Police station in-charge Kotwali Sidhi Manoj Soni and a sub-inspector Abhishek Singh have been removed immediately and attached to the police line.
When asked to comment, Soni told the media that they were asked to strip down to underwear because sometimes people hang themselves in custody using their clothes and this was a preventive measure.
सवाल- आपने थाने में पत्रकार व उनके सहयोगियों के कपड़े क्यों उतरवाए?
सीधी पुलिस का जवाब – 'कोई न्यूड नहीं है, सभी ने अंडरवियर पहने हुए है, कोई फांसी ना लगा ले, ये सुरक्षा की दृष्टि से कदम उठाया' pic.twitter.com/A5L0gZp5k6
— News24 (@news24tvchannel) April 7, 2022
The photograph includes a local YouTube journalist Kanishk Tiwari and seven others who were protesting against the arrest of Neeraj Kunder. The protest was staged in front of Kotwali police station.
They were allegedly arrested for protesting without permission and disrupting peace. They were arrested on April 2 and were claimed to be released on April 3.
Kanishk Tiwari stated that they were asked to strip down and have been beaten in the police station. He added that the police also threatened them to release these photographs on social media and also implicate them in a false case.
Neeraj Kunder, director of Indravati Drama School was arrested over an FIR filed by BJP MLA Kedarnath Shukla. He has been accused of using a fake identity to post defamatory posts against Kedarnath Shukla and his son Gurudutt Sharan Shukla. He was booked under Section 419 (impersonation) and Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.
