Madhya Pradesh: Cop who said lawyer beaten up under impression of being Muslim suspended

“Whenever there are riots, police always supports Hindus and Muslims get beaten up"

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An assistant sub-inspector of police (ASI) in Betul of Madhya Pradesh was suspended after he told a lawyer that the latter was beaten up by the cops under impression that he was a Muslim because of the beard he sported.

Lawyer Deepak Bundele was allegedly beaten up brutally by a posse of cops on March 23 in Betul city for violating restrictions related to COVID-19. He later recorded a conversation between himself and ASI B.S. Patel of Kotwali police station and another of his unidentified associate, when the two officers visited him at his home on May 17. The recorded conversation is available with The WEEK.

Bundele said, while speaking to The WEEK, that the ASI and his associate (who was in civil dress and thus not identified) tried to convince him to withdraw his complaint and were apologising on the behalf of the accused cops for the incident of March 23, when they made the communal statements.

Inspector General (IG) of Hoshangabad range, Ashutosh Rai, told The WEEK that the ASI had been suspended and sent to police lines pending departmental probe. The IG said that prima facie it appeared that the cop had made statements 'that were totally uncalled for and unacceptable'.

In the audio clip Bundele shared, the voices, purportedly of ASI Patel and his associate, can be heard repeatedly saying that Bundele had been beaten up under the impression that he was a Muslim because he sported a long beard. They also said that they were embarrassed by the incident as a 'Hindu brother' had been assaulted. 

The ASI is also heard saying that whenever there are riots, police always sides with the Hindus and Muslims get beaten up badly. When the lawyer told them that there were no riots on the day of the incident, he was told that there had been some earlier incidents that had irritated the cops. The other voice is also heard saying that the cop involved in beating Bundele up is a 'kattar' (staunch) Hindu.

The IG said that though a complete probe will be held to find out the details, background and authenticity of the entire conversation, the action had been initiated immediately on the cop because this was a very serious matter. “We totally abide by the Constitution as far as our work goes and the force comprises of all sections of society including women and people of all communities. It is not in our training to be partisan in any manner,” the IG said, adding that further action will be initiated on the basis of outcome of the departmental probe.

The IG also said that the Betul police was looking into the incident of March 23 that led to this controversy, but since the CCTV footage of the incident had been deleted in the course of the time and the complainant has not been able to identify the accused cops as they were reportedly wearing masks, the probe is still on.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Hoshangabad range, Arvind Saxena, while confirming the suspension of the ASI, said that according to Section 64(11) of Madhya Pradesh Police Regulation, there can be no partisan action on the basis of caste, community, religion, gender or any other basis. "Everyone is equal for the police force and this factor will be part of the charge sheet that will be served to the ASI following the departmental probe," Saxena said.

According to Bundele, 32, he is a diabetes patient and on March 23 he was on his way to hospital on foot, when he was stopped by the police and in the course of conversation slapped by one of them. When he protested and spoke about behaviour according to the Constitution, over a dozen of them assaulted him to the extent that he started bleeding from his ear. He was able to identify one of them as 'Kapil Saurashtra', though he was not sure about this cop's rank.

Bundele further said that in a letter to the superintendent of police of Betul on March 27, he had specifically urged for the CCTV footage to be saved for use in court as he wanted to pursue the matter legally. Since then, Bundele has written about the incident and inaction of Betul police to the MP Bar Association, MP Human Rights Commission, National Bar Association and even chief justice of the Supreme Court of India. “I will take up the matter in the court, if no action is taken against the cops,” Bundele said.