HYDERABAD: The Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) has written to the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) after CCTV footage showing Ramgopalpet police allegedly assaulting a delivery worker for a quick-commerce platform during the early hours of Thursday surfaced online.In a letter addressed to NHRC chairperson Justice V Ramasubramanian, TGPWU founder-president SK Salauddin alleged that Hyderabad police assaulted and harassed delivery worker Shabbir Azam, a resident of Falaknuma, at around 2.50 am on May 7.According to the complaint, Azam was waiting to pick up an ice cream order from a store in Secunderabad when two police constables from Ramgopalpet police station arrived and instructed the delivery workers gathered there to leave. “When Shabbir Azam attempted to explain and show the order details assigned through the application, the station house officer (SHO) of Ramgopalpet police station physically assaulted him without any provocation. The shop manager, Rahil Hussain, attempted to explain that the establishment had permission to operate. However, he too was beaten and abused by the SHO,” Salauddin stated in the complaint submitted to the NHRC.Meanwhile, Ramgopalpet inspector B Suresh Kumar told TOI that the store was operating beyond permitted hours. “The permission for the store to operate till the early hours had expired in 2024. I was on night patrol and found the shop open and delivering orders even after 3 am. One of the persons standing outside the shop, who was not in uniform, responded in a rude and objectionable manner when asked to leave and created a nuisance. I had to use mild force to disperse him,” the inspector said.Mahankali police later registered two petty cases — one against Azam for alleged nuisance and another against the shop manager for operating the business beyond permitted hours.
