New Delhi: Shivraj Singh’s only crime seemed to be his first name. On July 4, a team of Uttar Pradesh police dragged the Hamirpur resident from his home under the pretext of a non-bailable warrant, leading to an alleged brutal interrogation inside the local station. It turns out, the police had got the wrong man. Shivraj Singh alleged that he was assaulted so severely at the police station that he had to be hospitalised. The under-fire police, however, claimed that his injuries were self-inflicted and have opened an investigation into the matter.The police had a non-bailable warrant against a different person, also named Shivraj, issued in a criminal case registered under section 325 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with voluntarily causing grievous hurt.Looking visibly shocked, Singh spoke to mediapersons from a hospital bed, accusing the police of assaulting him inside the police station. He alleged the station house officer of the Kotwali police station in Hamirpur, a sub-inspector and a constable assaulted him.“They made a false allegation that there was an arrest warrant against me. They arrested me after showing a fake arrest warrant on their phone and beat me up inside the police station,” Singh told media persons.Dharmendra Singh, a doctor at the hospital where Singh received treatment, said he had suffered injuries to his head, face and chest.“He told us that he was assaulted by three policemen. A sub-inspector kicked him repeatedly. He was kicked on his chest,” said doctor Singh.The doctor said that they conducted a NCCT (Non-Contrast Computed Tomography) imaging scan on Singh’s head but referred him to Kanpur for better treatment.“This is a physical assault case,” he told the media.Hamirpur police, however, said the injuries suffered by Singh were self-inflicted. Circle Officer Hamirpur Sadar Yashpal Singh told The Wire that the ‘mix-up’ happened as both the men, Shivraj Singh and the suspect Shivraj, lived in the same locality.“They picked up the wrong person by mistake,” he said.Police said that the incident took place when its personnel were taking part in a routine campaign for the arrest or verification of wanted accused persons or those with a warrant against them. Additional Superintendent of Police Arvind Kumar Verma said that Shivraj, son of Shivkaran, was brought to the Kotwali police for verification in compliance with a non-bailable warrant. “During verification, his father’s name was found to be different from the description mentioned in the warrant,” Verma noted.The officer said that Singh then suddenly became enraged and hit the window pane of the police station, resulting in injuries to his hand.Verma acknowledged that Shivraj had accused the Kotwali police station officials of assaulting him and said a “high-level, impartial and transparent investigation” would be conducted into the incident by reviewing the CCTV footage inside the police station. Based on the investigation, strict legal action will be taken, the ASP said.The officer said that according to doctors, Singh was currently in a stable condition.Circle Officer Yashpal Singh denied the allegations that the police assaulted Shivraj Singh inside the police station. “Why would the police beat him for a warrant in an IPC 325 case? He started banging his head hard against the wall and cut his hand after hitting it against the window pane, injuring himself. Luckily, he did not sustain any serious head injury,” said the officer.An inquiry was still going on, he added.Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the incident was “extremely tragic, deplorable, shameful.” While imploring chief minister Yogi Adityanath to take action in the matter, Yadav also took a dig at him.“The people of UP are demanding the dismissal of all the guilty personnel at the police station from service. Just yesterday, the Chief Minister stated that the administration should be sensitive; it seems the police headquarters either did not hear this or simply does not heed the Chief Minister,” Yadav said in a post on X.Omar Rashid is an independent journalist.