The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Karnataka Police on Wednesday arrested a police sub-inspector for allegedly forcing a Dalit man to drink urine, while the latter was in custody in May, police said.
Arjun Horakeri, a sub-inspector of police posted with Gonibeedu police station, was produced before a court in Chikkamagaluru on Thursday, and an additional district and sessions judge remanded him to 14 days judicial custody, said Chikkamagaluru police.
Earlier, the police officer’s plea for anticipatory bail was rejected by the Karnataka high court on June 2.
The incident took place on May 10 at Gonibeedu police station in Mudigere taluk of the district. An inquiry was ordered after the man lodged a complaint with the Chikkamagaluru superintendent of police (SP).
In his complaint, the victim alleged that Gonibeedu police took him into custody on May 10 based on an oral complaint by a group of villagers accusing him of creating discord between a couple in the village.
The man said no written complaint was filed against him, but he was kept in the police station from 11 am to 10.30 pm. “Policemen beat me up for a couple of hours. Then they asked another man who was in the lockup to urinate on me. He refused, but he was forced to do it. After that, they made me lick the urine on the floor,” he told HT on May 22.
{{/usCountry}}The man said no written complaint was filed against him, but he was kept in the police station from 11 am to 10.30 pm. “Policemen beat me up for a couple of hours. Then they asked another man who was in the lockup to urinate on me. He refused, but he was forced to do it. After that, they made me lick the urine on the floor,” he told HT on May 22.
{{/usCountry}}Chikkamagaluru police registered a case against the sub-inspector under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on May 21 and on May 24 the case was handed over to the CID for a fair probe.