Video Producer/Editor: Shohini Bose
The Bihar Police Association on Saturday sought a judicial probe into an alleged incident of five officers "being kept inside a lockup for two hours as per the direction of the district police chief concerned".
The alleged incident took place in a police station in Nawada district on Thursday night as Superintendent of Police Gaurav Mangla was dissatisfied with the performance of the three assistant sub-inspectors and two sub-inspectors.
The SP, when contacted by reporters, said it was "fake news," while senior officials did not comment on the matter despite several attempts to seek their reactions. But a video, purportedly of the police officials in lockup, is doing the rounds on social media.
According to an NDTV report, security camera footage shows five cops – Sub-Inspectors Shatrughan Paswan and Ramrekha Singh; ASIs Santosh Paswan, Sanjay Singh and Rameshwar Uraon – inside the lockup at Nawada Nagar police station. They were reportedly let out after two hours, around midnight.
Sources told NDTV that the SP had come to the police station around 9 pm on 8 September to review cases, and that upon finding negligence by some officers, he got angry and ordered they be put in the lockup.
The association's president Mrityunjay Kumar Singh said in a statement that attempts were made to contact the SP but he did not respond to repeated calls.
"We got the information soon after the incident from our Nawada branch and it is being discussed on WhatsApp groups of police personnel as well. Incidents like these are reminiscent of the colonial period. The incident is the first of its kind and could tarnish the image of Bihar Police. We demand a judicial probe and a thorough investigation of the CCTV footage," he said.
"There are allegations that the SP is putting pressure on aggrieved persons to hush up the matter. Attempts may also be made to tamper with the CCTV footage. A probe should be initiated at the earliest and FIR should be lodged under sections of the IPC," the association demanded.
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