MUMBAI: A viral video from the CJP protest at Shivaji Park on Thursday, showing a policeman allegedly inappropriately touching a woman protester, stirred up a fresh controversy on Friday, with the opposition demanding his dismissal. The police, however, dismissed the charges levelled against the policeman, saying there was no act of misconduct by the officer seen in the footage.DCP (operations) Akbar Pathan said, “The official was trying to hold on to a male protester and a lady stepped in while he was looking away. Senior officers have verified all the facts and minutely assessed the video to ascertain the facts,” he said. Another police official said, “Since the video went viral late Thursday night, our senior cyber crime experts carefully zoomed in on the footage, verified it, and found that there was no misconduct.”The controversy came a day after another viral video showed a police constable, who was working as a driver, allegedly threatening young protesters that drugs would be planted on them and their career would be ruined if they continued participating in protests.The latest video quickly went viral on social media, with several opposition politicians demanding action against the policeman. Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal demanded an apology from CM Devendra Fadnavis and dismissal of the policeman. In a post on X, Sapkal said, “The one who calls himself Devabhaau has turned out to be Duryodhan! Devabhaau’s police have become so rogue that they are violating the modesty of female students the age of their own daughters.” Mumbai Congress president and MP Varsha Gaikwad said, “What happened to a girl during the protest in Mumbai is deeply painful and disturbing. It is wrong to speak of the ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme while treating young women in such a manner. It is a matter of shame that women are allegedly being mistreated in the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. False cases are being registered against students, and they are being threatened.”Congress has organised statewide candlelight marches and ‘satyagraha’ in Maharashtra on Saturday to express solidarity with the protesting students.
