Infamous for human rights abuse, a police inspector was seen thrashing a Class IV employee with a stick even as his minor daughter wailed in trauma and shock during an agitation outside the district hospital at Akbarpur in Kanpur Dehat on Thursday. As the police tried to detain the man, another officer was seen pulling the child away as the father clung to her.
Ironically, the local officers initially tried to hush up the abuse claiming that the action was “necessary” but later as a video of the police brutality went viral on social media, the accused cop was suspended and a probe was ordered against him.
The police action came after some agitating staff of the district hospital staged a dharna and put locks on the OPD on Thursday morning. As the cops led by Inspector Vinod Kumar Mishra tried to reason, the situation deteriorated after which a staff allegedly locked up the cops in a room. Later the cops zeroed in on one of the staff and beat him up.
The local police officials initially came out in support of their junior colleagues and Additional Superintendent of Police Ghanshyam Chaurasia said that a few people were spreading lawlessness in the area by shutting down the OPD of the hospital.
"In the district hospital, a Class-IV employee, Rajneesh Shukla, shut down the OPD by spreading anarchy along with 100-150 people. They misbehaved with hospital employees and patients. Even after the police tried to convince him, he did not listen to it and even locked the inspector and some cops in a room. Shukla even bit the finger of the inspector while attacking him. Light force was used to remove the miscreants," a statement issued by the ASP said.
After the matter reached senior officers, they responded to large-scale criticism on social media. Later UP Police issued a statement saying, "A video of police lathi-charging a man holding a child has come to light. Such conduct on police personnel is not acceptable".
Later SHO of Akbarpur police station, Vinod Kumar Mishra, was suspended after the intervention of ADG (Kanpur Zone), Bhanu Bhaskar, who ordered district officials to conduct a proper inquiry.
Sub-Divisional Officer Vagish Kumar and Circle Officer Arun Kumar also visited the spot to ensure peace as the staff were agitated after the police harassment and demanded action against them.