Ghaziabad: Kanwariyas thrash police officer in public, cops hush up incident

The video showed nearly a dozen Kanwariyas, in saffron outfits, pulling the officer out of his car and thrashing him. The video also made headlines on television channels on Wednesday. The onlookers and passersby can also be heard shouting to each other to dial the police emergency number — 100.

Nearly a dozen agitated Kanwariyas were seen thrashing a police officer uniform in public view after pulling him out of his car in Modi Nagar late Tuesday night. The incident was captured by a passerby on a mobile phone and the video went viral on social media, including the police WhatsApp groups, within minutes.

The Ghaziabad police denied the incident but it was confirmed by a source from the administration.

The video showed nearly a dozen Kanwariyas, in saffron outfits, pulling the officer out of his car and thrashing him. The video also made headlines on television channels on Wednesday. The onlookers and passersby can also be heard shouting to each other to dial the police emergency number — 100.

However, the senior police officers of Ghaziabad brushed aside the video and its contents.

“The incident was not at Modi Nagar but at Modipuram (in Meerut). We scanned the video and a hoarding showed Modipuram. No such incident took place at Modi Nagar in Ghaziabad,” AK Maurya, superintendent of police (rural), said.

Contrary to the claims of their Ghaziabad counterparts, the Meerut police officials denied any such incident had taken place in Modipuram.

“I was on duty up to 2am and no such incident took place here. In fact, I was in the Modipuram area and no such incident was reported,” BS Vir Kumar, circle officer of Daurala, Meerut, said.

Also, a district administration official who was on duty on Tuesday night confirmed that the incident took place in Modi Nagar.

“The incident took place around 11.30pm. The car of the police officer brushed the vehicle of Kanwariyas near Modi Steels in Modi Nagar. The officer was pulled out of the car and thrashed. The incident was brushed aside but a complaint should have been lodged and action initiated against the unruly people,” the official said.

He said that action was probably not initiated against the Kanwariyas to maintain law and order in the area and said that those involved escaped soon after the incident.