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2 railway cops thrash journalist in UP, suspended
Amit Sharma, a journalist with a Hindi news channel, said on May 11 he had done a news report “exposing” how illegal vendors continued to operate on trains, which could have led to the railway police officials beating him up. He demanded a stricter punishment for the accused SHO and constable .
Two Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel were suspended on Wednesday for allegedly thrashing a journalist covering the derailment of a goods train in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli the previous night, officials familiar with the matter said.
In a purported video of the incident, GRP’s Shamli station house officer (SHO) Rakesh Kumar Upadhyay and constable Sanjay Pawar, dressed in plain clothes, can be seen repeatedly slapping and punching Amit Sharma, a journalist with a Hindi news channel. Union information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar Wednesday said he will seek a report on the incident of the journalist allegedly being beaten up by GRP personnel.
Sharma said he had gone to Dhimanpura to cover the derailment of a goods train’s three wagons on Tuesday night. According to the 30-year-old journalist, Upadhyay and Panwar, objected to his presence near the site of the derailment and thrashed him when he tried to record a video for a news report.
“GRP and railway officials were at the derailment spot when I reached there. I was recording a video for a report when the personnel abused me and then started beating me up,” Sharma said. “I was put in a lock-up. They tore-off my clothes and then they urinated on me,” Sharma added. He was released from the lock-up on Wednesday morning.
Sharma said on May 11 he had done a news report “exposing” how illegal vendors continued to operate on trains, which could have led to the railway police officials beating him up. He demanded strict punishment for the accused SHO and constable .
Confirming Upadhyay and Panwar’s suspension, GRP superintendent of police (SP) of Moradabad division, Subhash Chandra Dubey, said: “I have directed Ramesh Tripathi, the circle officer of Ghaziabad, to investigate the matter and submit his report.”
The Congress took a swipe at PM Narendra Modi over the incident. Congress leader Kapil Sibal said, “Enforcers of the law are its biggest violators! “What about: Sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas!” .
