Uttar Pradesh: Cops use plastic chair as riot gear, DGP seeks explanation

LUCKNOW: After a viral video showed policemen using plastic chair and cane basket as riot gear against a mob in Unnao, the DGP on Thursday sought an explanation from Unnao police on the clash, which was triggered by demands of compensation after two persons died in a road accident. Unnao police accused Bhim Army of instigating the violence.Director General of Police (DGP) H C Awasthy said a casual approach while handling aggressive mobs amounts to exposing cops to high and avoidable risk.The state police chief sought an explanation from SP Unnao, Anand Rao Kulkarni, on why the force was ill-equipped to handle the mob despite intelligence inputs. ASP Rae Bareli, Vishwajit Srivastava, will lead the probe.The DGP said, an elaborate SOP and sufficient riot gear have been provided to districts to deal with law and order situations, but the Unnao police force was ill-equipped. Four policemen: SHO Sadar Kotwali Dinesh Mishra, police outpost in charge Akhilesh Kumar and constables Ramasrey Yadav and Vijay Yadav have been suspended.Kulkarni told TOI that on Tuesday, two men on a bike — Rajesh and Vipin —died in a road accident and the next day, families told police they would cremate the bodies.“However, some members of Bhim Army incited the families and they placed the bodies on the Rae Bareli-Unnao highway, blocking the arterial stretch to the city. They also demanded Rs 20 lakh as compensation. When police reached the spot to pacify them, members of Bhim Army started pelting stones at police. In the ensuing attack, a few cops sustained injuries. The situation was brought under control when senior police officers reached the spot,” said Kulkarni.He added, 43 people had been arrested and on basis of photographs and CCTV footage and police were tracking down Bhim Army members to book them under stringent IPC sections.