Ahmedabad: Barely months after the Gujarat Police headquarters directed personnel not to publicly parade or humiliate accused persons, four men arrested for allegedly assaulting a shopkeeper in Singarva were taken to the spot of the crime by cops, allegedly made to walk on their haunches and allegedly beaten with sticks in public.The incident occurred after they allegedly attacked a pan parlour employee in a dispute over payment for cigarettes. Police arrested the accused after a complaint was lodged and took them back to the spot. Videos from after their arrest show a cop in civilian clothes meting out what looks like a public punishment by beating them with a stick, making them hold their ears and walk on their haunches.According to the complaint, on Sept 30, one of the accused visited the parlour and initially refused to pay for cigarettes. He paid up after speaking with the shopkeeper on the phone, but allegedly returned later with three other men on motorcycles and picked up a quarrel with the shopkeeper’s son. The four allegedly dragged him out and assaulted him with sticks, a cricket bat and a stool.Kunal Desai, assistant commissioner of police, R division, said that the person who assaulted the accused is a cop. The accused had assaulted a shopkeeper in the past and a complaint was registered.The incident assumes significance considering a May directive issued by then in-charge DGP K L N Rao, which specifically referred to Supreme Court safeguards in the D K Basu case and Gujarat High Court’s directions. The directive said handcuffing, tying accused with ropes and publicly parading them were not part of established procedure, and ordered that such practices be stopped. The directive also called for compliance to be monitored at the field level.In a similar controversy in Surat, four accused were allegedly paraded and assaulted by police personnel.
