It was supposedly a trivial issue that has turned serious. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, forever keen to present a sober, serious face of governance, is said to be upset the manner in which Sidhi police dealt with a seemingly minor issue and then tried to hush it up in a bizarre manner.
By the time two guilty police officers were suspended, the incident has caused severe damage to the Madhya Pradesh government and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, as the news was already circulated internationally.
The Sidhi incident, where eight persons including a journalist and theatre artists were stripped half naked in Kotwali police station, seems to further tarnish the image of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
These eight persons had gone to the police station opposing the arrest of theatre artist Neeraj Kunder, who runs the theatre group 'Indravati Natya Sansthan', on April 03. On the initiative of BJP MLA Kedarnath Shukla and his son Gurudutt, the police caught these people and forced them to strip naked.
As the photograph of these eight persons half naked in the police station went viral on social media on Thursday, the senior officials immediately shifted the sub-inspector and SHO of Kotwali police station to the district police line. It was publicised that stern action has been taken against the erring police officials.
However, factually, sending a police officer to line is no punishment. This action is simply shifting of the cops from one place to another.
On Thursday night, on the instructions of his senior officials, the SHO Manoj Soni came before media persons and clarified that these eight persons were stripped, so that they may not commit suicide using their clothes. It was surprising that the officer who has served the police more than 15 years, does not know the procedure of police custody. The police manual does not mention that the detainee should be stripped or naked.
On Friday, Sidhi SP told media persons that Kotwali SHO Manoj Soni and Amaliya SHO Abhishek Singh have been suspended. But he seemed more concerned about investigating who clicked the photograph of detained persons and as how it became viral on social media.
Besides, the investigation ordered in the incident has been handed over to SSP Radio Amit Singh.
Meanwhile, taking cognizance of the news published in the media, Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission issued notices to the DGP and IG Rewa seeking a report on the incident, within a week.