A man accused of robbery was caught and paraded through the streets by police in a highly controversial manner in Jammu’s Bakshinagar area on Tuesday. The incident was recorded on video and quickly went viral on social media.
The man, who was accused of robbing an attendant of a patient, was tied up, made to wear a garland of shoes, and even forced to sit on the bonnet of a moving police vehicle. The public display sparked outrage, leading to the Jammu Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Joginder Singh to launch a departmental inquiry into the matter, TOI reported.
In a statement, SSP Singh called the actions of the Bakshinagar police ‘unprofessional and unbecoming of a disciplined force.’ “A video went viral on social media platforms wherein a person whose upper part is naked and being garlanded with slippers, was found paraded by police personnel of police station Bakshi Nagar,” NDTV quoted him as saying.
"This act on the part of the police personnel is unprofessional, unbecoming of members of a disciplined organisation and calls for a stern departmental action," he added.
The official said that the incident was being taken seriously and that a sub-divisional police officer from the City North area had been assigned to investigate. A detailed report has been asked for within a week.
According to the police, the accused is a known criminal from Kashmir and part of a gang that was recently busted in the area. They claim he was under the influence of drugs at the time of the arrest and had earlier attacked a man with a knife. The victim, who had been robbed of Rs 40,000 while buying medicines, recognised the accused and confronted him on Tuesday. A scuffle broke out, and the accused tried to flee.
Police said a patrol team nearby noticed the fight and started chasing him. Locals also joined in, and after the accused was caught, some people placed a garland of shoes around his neck and shouted slogans as he was escorted to the police station. A loudspeaker was used to announce his arrest.
This is not the first such incident in Jammu. On June 11, three men involved in a shooting were publicly beaten while being taken into custody. In another case on April 11, a man accused of snatching earrings was beaten, partially shaved, and paraded before being handed over to police, according to the TOI report.
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