Another probe into cop-beating incident

While the one by lawmakers will look into the involvement of their own, the investigation by police will be criminal in nature.

A probe into the incident of a group of legislators beating up police sub-inspector Sachin Suryavanshi on March 19 was announced in the state Assembly on Monday. It will run concurrent to the one being conducted by the crime branch of Mumbai police.

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The inquiry committee will be headed by senior MLA Ganpatrao Deshmukh, with presiding officers from all major parties as its members.

Bowing to pressure from legislators, the state government also announced the suspension of Suryavanshi on the basis of a preliminary investigation report by the police. Suryavanshi will remain under suspension until the Deshmukh committee submits its report.

"The committee probe will look into the involvement of the legislators in bashing up the police officer. It will go through the CCTV footage and the statements of those who witnessed the incident. The investigation by the crime branch will be criminal in nature and enquire into related aspects including the medical report and application of various sections. There would be no overlap in the two probes," he added.

An official from the secretariat said they are not clear about rules on handing over footage outside the legislature.