A Maharashtra police Assistant Sub-Inspector Yunus Sheikh was assaulted and paraded with a ‘saffron flag’ across the town of Latur by members of fringe right wing group.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Wednesday, said that this is not an attack on an individual but on the police force. He added that his government would not tolerate such acts in future.
Sheikh and his colleague Head Constable K Awaskar had stopped a group of 25 people from hoisting a saffron flag, according to The Indian Express. The group wanted to hoist the flag near Ambedkar Chowk in Latur which has been marked as ‘sensitive area.’
Sheikh was attacked at 8:30 am on 20 February when more than 100 youth assembled outside the police chowky .
I begged them to let me go but I was mercilessly beaten until I collapsed. The mob took me to the same spot where I had stopped them from hoisting the flag. They made me hoist the same flag there and forced me to chant ‘Jai Bhawani, Jai Shivaji.’ I was just doing my duty. Ambedkar Chowk is marked as a communally sensitive area. We even assured the group the previous night that we would find a better place for them to hoist the flag.Yunus Sheikh, ASI, Latur to The Indian Express
Sheikh’s family has asked for a departmental probe into why the reinforcement did not arrive to tackle the mob. Sheikh’s son, Farooq Yunus Sheikh also alleged that his father was singled out by the mob.
The other constable who had also restrained the crowd from hoisting the flag the previous night was not paraded or attacked the way my father was. They spared him but not my father. What are we to make out of this? If reinforcements had be sent on time, my father would not have been attacked. In every case, a departmental enquiry is ordered, we hope that this case is no differentFarooq Yunus Sheikh, Son of Victim to The Indian Express
In response to allegations level by Sheikh and his family, SP Latur Dyaneshwar Chawan said that police has registered the statement of Sheikh and made a strong case.
Sheikh called the station around 8.30 am to inform that a violent mob was closing down shops. He made another call around 8.45 am after which we sent a police team on a jeep to the chowky. The team saw Awaskar, who was also injured, brought him to the outpost and attended to him. They reached the spot where Sheikh had been taken by 9.50 am. The provisions of CrPC allow a case to be registered by anyone who is a witness or victim to a cognizable offence. Awaskar has narrated the entire episode and we have also recorded Sheikh’s statement. It is a strong case.Dyaneshwar Chawan, SP, Latur to The Indian Express
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also tweeted about the issue. He mentioned Maharashtra CM in his tweet asking him to take action.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)