New Delhi: An incident of public flogging by police during the nationwide lockdown has put Madhya Pradesh police in the spotlight again.On Saturday, a video clip of two policemen beating a man to unconsciousness went viral on social media.Hunger Games, Day-64; Just another day in what is now known as the Police State of India: pic.twitter.com/yBhJn1qFiL— Jayant Bhandari (@JayantBhandari5) May 23, 2020The incident took place a few days ago at Pipla Naryanwar village under Lodhikheda police station. The Adivasi-dominated area falls in the district of Chhindwara, which is considered to be the bastion of former Congress chief minister Kamal Nath.His son Nakul Nath represents the constituency at present.Shortly after the video of the brutal beating went viral, Madhya Pradesh police shunted out the two policemen from the Lodhikheda police station, according to PTI. Head constable Krishna Dongre and constable Ashish were taken off field duty or “line attached” in retaliatory action against them.Also read: Madhya Pradesh Police Apologise for Beating Lawyer, ‘We Thought You Were Muslim,’ They Say“It seems a drunk man was creating ruckus and the two policemen used force against him,” Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Shashank Garg said. He added that a sub divisional officer of police (SDOP) would soon be conducting an inquiry, on the basis of which further action would be taken.Recently, another such incident came to light in the state. In Betul, a lawyer named Deepak Bundele had reportedly been similarly beaten up by district police officials. Bundele was on his way to the hospital on March 23 to get his diabetes and blood pressure medicines when the police beat him up for violating Section 144.The matter assumed greater proportions when Bundele pursued his case. In attempting to bury the case then, some police officials allegedly urged the lawyer to withdraw his case, and told him that he was beaten up because the officials thought he was Muslim.
