Bangalore: Challenge a Cop in Mufti, get Beaten up
Bangalore, Nov 4 (DC): A study of the police work culture in the state does not seem to have changed the way the cops function. Bengaluru city police’s ‘police raj’ was exposed in a Sunday afternoon incident in City Market police station.
A mechanic from Puttur near Mangalore, Kushalappa, was still limping on Tuesday for asking a policeman in mufti to show his identity card. A resident of Mattikere in the city, Kushalappa had gone to the Sunday Bazar around 1 pm to buy dumbbells. He parked his bike at a spot where other bikes were parked and went to the market. When he returned, Kushalappa saw a man pushing away his bike. “He wore slippers and looked like a civilian. When he said he is a policeman, I asked him for some ID card. He flashed his card and said my bike was not locked and that I have to come to the station. I apologised and followed him,’’ Kushalappa said.
But Kushalappa had no inkling that he would be dragged into the police station and beaten black and blue. “I was taken to the City Market police station around 1.30 pm and a police constable came from a room and snatched my mobile phone and purse. I was asked to sit along with two thieves on the floor. A police officer, who sits in the chamber on the right side in the police station, came and flashed his ID card at me. He asked me to tell him what that was. When I said it is an ID card he slapped me and I fell on the ground,’’ Kushalappa said.
His troubles did not end there. A police constable asked Kushalappa where he hailed from. Kushalappa then got the notorious police treatments — Bombay Cut and Aero plane. “The moment I told them that I am from Mangalore, the officer hurled abuse at me and got a lathi from his assistant. He asked me to stretch my hands and when I did so, he hit me several times with the lathi. When I tried to pull back my hand, he threatened me to hit me for 50 times. I repeatedly apologised for asking for the policeman’s ID, but in vain,’’ Kushalappa said.
His ordeal did not end there. The policemen reportedly asked Kushalappa to jump continuously for an hour to reduce the swelling. Later, around 6 pm, the officer said he will book Kushalappa under sections 506 or 505 under IPC. “I got scared and pleaded with them to let me go. They discussed among themselves and took Rs 500 before letting me go. I got admitted at Ramakrishna Nursing Home where my relative is a doctor,’’ he said.
Just a few days ago, a police inspector, who was under suspension and presently at the City Control Room, had threatened a journalist that he will be bumped off in an encounter. City police commissioner Shankar M. Bidari reacted saying citizens should obey the orders of an officer in uniform. But the City Market incident suggests that they do not even need to be in uniform.