The Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday suspended six Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel, including the station in-charge, in connection with the beating of a woman and her grandson in Katni district. Opposition party Congress claimed that the victims were Dalits. Taking aim at the Mohan Yadav-led state BJP government, Congress leaders staged a sit-in inside a police station in Katni and demanded registration of an FIR against the accused.
Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Santosh Dehariya said, “The victim has lodged a complaint. We have taken it in the proper manner and entered it in the complaint register and given a receipt to the protesters. It has also been entered in the ‘Rojnamcha’ (daily record register). It has also been updated online.”
The ASP said that the Congress leader wanted the complaint to be filed through the online process and now it will be forwarded to the GRP police station. He said that the accused GRP personnel will record his statement before the DIG who is investigating the incident and further legal action will be taken by the GRP station.
Congress surrounded the state government
Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari alleged that the incident exposed the autocratic attitude of the BJP government led by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav towards the Dalit community. Patwari said six policemen were suspended and they will face problems in their jobs as we will go to court against them. The Congress is warning the officers not to work as agents of the (ruling) party. They should work according to the rulebook. He claimed that the FIR was registered only after Congress protested.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said in a post on the social media platform ‘X’, “An old video of beating by the policemen of GRP Katni police station has surfaced on social media. After taking cognizance of this, I have asked the DIG Railway to visit the spot to investigate the incident. On the basis of preliminary investigation, I have ordered the suspension of the then GRP police station in-charge, a head constable and four constables with immediate effect.”
These employees were suspended
An official said that station house officer Aruna Vahane, head constable Ajay Srivastava, constables Shoaib Abbasi, Salman Khan, Omkar Sirsam and woman constable Varsha Dubey have been suspended.
The action came after the Congress on Wednesday shared a purported video of the incident that took place in October 2023. On Thursday, state Congress president Jitu Patwari and media department head Mukesh Nayak visited Katni and met the victim woman Kusum Vanskar and her grandson. Both the victims told reporters how they were brutally beaten with sticks at the police station.
Jeetu Patwari asked Kusum Vanskar if she wanted an FIR to be filed against the policemen, to which she nodded ‘yes’. The Congress leaders then accompanied her to the police station. They staged a sit-in at the police station and Patwari said that they will not leave until an FIR is filed. The protest continued for about 5 hours.
Regarding the incident, Superintendent of Police (GRP) Simla Prasad said that the incident took place in October 2023. He said, “A man named Deepak Vanskar has 19 cases registered against him and he was absconding. He was also expelled from the district. His family members were called to the police station for questioning in this regard in October last year.”
SP Prasad said, “The video of the interrogation has surfaced on social media. Cases have also been registered against the woman and the minor in Katni. All the policemen seen in the video have been put on line duty.”
SP Prasad said that it is being investigated why the woman and her grandson were treated like this.
Sources said that Railway DIG Monika Shukla reached Katni on Thursday to investigate and investigated the incident.
In a video shared by the state Congress on the social media platform ‘X’, a woman in plain clothes – the station in-charge – is seen beating a woman and a boy in a room. Later, some other policemen in uniform are also seen beating the two.
Terming the incident as “shameful”, the Congress said, “The brutality with which the station in-charge of Katni Government Railway Police (GRP) beat up a 15-year-old boy and his grandmother from a Dalit family is painful. Where did they get the guts to do this? Is it because of your negligence? Have you allowed them to indulge in such acts?”
