Theatre artists protesting against a local BJP MLA and a journalist who went to cover the protest are seen stripped down to their under garments inside a police station in a post gone viral.
In a post gone viral, eight men are seen standing stripped down to their underwear with their hands in front inside a police station in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh.
These men were protesting against a local BJP MLA when the police arrested them and were allegedly asked to strip inside the police station. The post went viral on Thursday, April 7.
Accusation against the police
A YouTuber and local journalist was identified in the now viral post. The incident happened when he went to cover the protest. Kanishka Tiwari, the journalist, alleged that he was arrested, beaten up and asked to strip by police.
The incident allegedly took place on April 2, when a group of theatre artists were protesting against the arrest of Neeraj Kunder, director of Indravati Drama School.
He was arrested for allegedly for posting defamatory content from a fake Facebook account against BJP MLA Kedarnath Shukla and his son Kedar Guru Dutt Shukla. The police arrested Kunder on the grounds of an FIR lodged by the MLA.
Kanishka Tiwari said that the police asked him why he was covering stories against the MLA. According to him, the police arrested him and his camera-person and charged them under various sections, trespassing and disturbance of public space being two of the charges.
The journalist claimed that the police arrested him along with the protesters. He said that the police took them into custody on April 2 and released them on April 3 after being held for 18 hours.
Mr. Tiwari alleged that Abhishek Singh Parihar, the in-charge of the police station clicked the photo and threatened the men of making them parade naked in the city if they disclose the incident. He claimed that the police had made the post viral. Kanishka Tiwari said that this incident is a violation of the human rights.
According to a protester, many theatre artists protested against the arrest of Neeraj Kunder; but the police beat the protesters up for raising slogans against the BJP government of the state.
Police personnel sent to lines
Mukesh Shrivastava, Superintendent of Police, Sidhi while speaking to a media outlet said that the station in-charge, Manoj Soni and the sub-inspector of the police station, Abhishek Singh have been suspended. After the viral post sparked outrage, action was taken against the police personnel.
Soni had claimed that the men were stripped for security purposes, a “preventive measure” as people sometimes hang themselves in custody with their clothes.
The SP while speaking to the local media had said they were investigating the incident and those responsible for posting the photo in social media will be punished.
On Thursday, in a press statement, Sidhi police said that as a result of arrest of Neeraj Kunder, approximately 30-40 people had gathered in front of the police station on April 2, were raising slogans against the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, the Bharatiya JanataParty and the Sidhi MLA. Kunder was later released on bail.
Shrivastava, the SP of the police station said that the police first took the protesters into preventive detention and filed an FIR under IPC Sections 153, 152 , 504, 341 and other sections.
Published By: Manan Khurana
Edited By: Subbuthai Padma
