CCTV footage shows Rana had water in lock-up, used washroom: Senior cop

“There is a separate washroom for the arrested accused near the lock up, but given her VIP status, she was allowed to use the officer’s washroom,” said an officer on conditions of anonymity

Mumbai A senior police officer denied Amravati MP Navneet Kaur Rana’s allegations of ill-treatment at Santacruz police station and countered her claims by saying that CCTV footage of the station shows otherwise.

A senior officer said that upon examining the footage, it can be seen that water bottles were kept in Rana’s lock-up and she was also allowed to use the washroom meant for officers (Sanjay Pandey Twitter)

He said that upon examining the footage, it can be seen that water bottles were kept in Rana’s lock-up and she was also allowed to use the washroom meant for officers and not the one meant for the common criminal, because of her ‘VIP status’.

“There is a separate washroom for the arrested accused near the lock up, but given her VIP status, she was allowed to use the officer’s washroom,” said an officer on conditions of anonymity.

An IPS officer, who is privy to the matter, said, “The police are yet to make the Santacruz station footage public. They have not done it yet as the complaint was initially regarding the Khar police station.”

After Rana complained to Lok Sabha speaker about the purported ‘inhumane treatment’ while in police custody because of her caste, police commissioner Sanjay Pandey tweeted a 12-second video from the CCTV camera at Khar police station, that showed the couple comfortably sitting in chairs and sipping tea.

Soon after the tweet, Rana’s lawyer Rizwan Merchant issued a video statement, claiming their complaint of “ill-treatment” was not in reference to the Khar police station, but related to Santacruz police station. The lawyer said the police refused to serve water to Navneet Kaur and also refused to let her use the washroom.

The couple was arrested on Saturday evening on charges of promoting enmity between groups and sedition, among others, for their insistence on chanting the Hanuman Chalisa outside chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s house “to remind the Shiv Sena leader of his Hindutva roots”.

While Navneet Rana is presently lodged in Byculla women’s prison, Ravi Rana is lodged at the Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai.