Twenty-year-old Harjit Singh, who was thrashed for raising anti-CAA slogans at an election rally by Home Minister Amit Shah alleged that the Delhi police forced him to write a letter stating that he is mentally unstable.
Singh alleged that at Shah's rally in Babarpur on Sunday, 26 January, he was immediately "puled from the back and pushed to the ground by people in the audience," reported The Indian Express.
Showing minor injuries on his body, he said that he screamed “CAA wapas lo,” but did not expect such an aggressive response from the crowd.
Singh claimed that the Delhi Police took him to the police station and locked him up despite not committing any crime.
“I wasn’t even informed on what charges I was locked up. The police officers directed me to write a letter in which I was made to say I am not mentally stable and wasn’t aware of what I was doing. If I hadn’t written the letter, they would have not released me,” he alleged.
What the Police is Saying
Contradicting his claims, Deputy Commisoner of Police (North East) Ved Prakash Surya said that they have not taken anything in writing from him.
Surya said, "We rescued him and first took him to the hospital. After his MLC report, we verified his details and handed over his custody to his parents after calling them."
However, Singh, who is a BA second-year political science student of Delhi University's School of Open Learning, claimed that police took him directly to the police station and not to the hospital, despite complaining of pain and bruises.
Earlier, a video of the incident purportedly showed Shah in the rally, the minister asked people to stop beating him, and called for security to escort him out of the venue. “Usko chhod dijiye, security waale le jaao isko. Wo ladke ko salaamat le jaiye bahar (everyone leave him, security please escort him out, escort him out unhurt),” said Shah.
(With inputs from The Indian Express)
(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.)