Police thrash man even as son cries for mercy in Wanaparthy

HYDERABAD: A police constable was suspended in Wanaparthy for thrashing a man in public, right in front of his minor son as he pleaded for his father to be spared in full view of half-a-dozen police personnel.
Though the incident happened on Wednesday, it snowballed into a major controversy on Thursday with IT minister KT Rama Rao rebuking the “attitude of police” and saying “it is unacceptable in ANY circumstances” on a micro-blogging site after the video of the incident went viral on social media.
On Wednesday evening, one Murali Krishna along with his 10-year-old son was travelling on a two-wheeler in Wanaparthy. They were stopped by traffic police personnel and asked why they were defying lockdown norms.
“Murali told police that he was travelling from his residence to his mother-in-law’s house, which was about five kilometres away. When he was told that during the lockdown period they are not supposed to travel, Murali picked up an argument,’’ Wanaparthy inspector Surya Naik said.
Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) constable Ashok Kumar, who was in mufti, checked for pending challans against the vehicle number and found there were 13 pending challans worth Rs 2,820.
When police informed him that his bike would be seized due to pending challans and violating lockdown norms, Murali reportedly picked up an argument with them. “For nearly 20 minutes, Murali refused to give the vehicle and later slapped constable Ashok Kumar,” the inspector said.
An infuriated Ashok caught Murali by the collar and started raining blows and hurling choicest expletives even as the latter’s son was pleading with him not to hit his father. Ashok pushed aside half-a-dozen police personnel, including traffic cops, and pinned him to the ground and continued his assault. A traffic constable too joined him and kicked Murali. A little later, Murali along with his son, who was crying for mercy, was forcibly put in a police vehicle and taken away. The incident was captured on phone by a bystander, a journalist of regional media. Murali was taken to police station and later let off.
However, police denied he was beaten in their custody.
The video landed on social media and one Twitter user tagged IT minister KT Rama Rao. The minister reacted, “Dear HM Mahmood Ali Saab & @TelanganaDGP Garu, this attitude of police is unacceptable in ANY circumstances. Request you to take the strictest action on incidents such as this... All the exceptionally good work of thousands of policemen is undone by the erratic behaviour of few (sic).”
Replying to the minister, Wanaparthy SP Apoorva Rao apologised to the public and said disciplinary action was initiated. “We apologise to public for such behaviour by an on-duty constable,” the SP tweeted. The constable was later suspended.