Nabha Dalit thrashing case: SC panel suspends Phagwara SHO
NCSC director said the FIR was registered a month after the incident and the accused have not been arrested so far
Taking a serious note of the alleged inaction by the Phagwara police in the case of Nabha Dalit man’s thrashing by two upper caste men, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) on Wednesday ordered the suspension of Phagwara Sadar SHO Manmohan Singh.
Commission director Raj Kumar Chhanena, who called on victim Kuldeep Singh at his residence in Sandhnoli village, also directed Phagwara SDM to reimburse the total expenditure on the victim’s treatment. The victim will also be provided compensation, he added.
Kuldeep was allegedly beaten up in a Phagwara village on October 22 by combine harvester owners Gurmeet Singh and Harvinder Singh of Kheri Jattan village of Nabha. Kuldeep, who operated their combine, was thrashed after he refused to work for them. They attacked him with iron rods, causing severe injuries. However, the Phagwara police registered a case in this connection on November 25.
“It’s unacceptable that the police don’t take action in cases pertaining to atrocities on Dalits until there is public furore or media highlights the matter,” Chhanena said.
“In this case also, the FIR was registered a month after the incident even as the complaint was received the very next day. The accused have not been arrested so far,” he added.
Chhanena also directed the Kapurthala SSP to arrest the accused at the earliest and directed him to add the relevant sections in the FIR.
Phagwara DSP Surinder Chand told HT over phone that the SHO has been suspended on the directions of NSCN director. “We will be adding Section 3 (2) of SC/ST Act in the FIR,” he added.