Oblivious to the humiliation it may be causing to common citizens, the Badaun police in Uttar Pradesh has been subjecting people to security checks at gunpoint, with both their arms held up in air.
Defending this method of security check, Badaun Senior Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar Tripathi on Monday, 24 June, asserted that it was a precautionary measure to avert any attack on policemen on duty.
A video and some photographs of the policemen frisking people and checking their vehiclesat gunpoint have gone viral on various social media platforms in the area.
In one photograph, Bagrain police post in-charge Rahul Kumar Sisodia, under the Wazirganj police station, could be seen pointing a pistol at passers-by with other policemen frisking them.
Cops holding a gun at passers-by could also be seen in the video, which went viral.
When contacted, SSP Tripathi said, "Criminals generally move with firearms and there have been several instances of attack on policemen during security checks."
"Hence, this has been done as a precautionary measure. When two cops are conducting checks, one cop is in an alert mode, so that no untoward incident takes place, the SSP added.
"This is being done from the security point of view," he said.
(Edited for clarity)
(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.)