Palsud: Two police personnel dragged a sikh by hair at Palsud in Barwani district in Madhya Pradesh. They were suspended for the act.
Video of an assistant sub-inspector and a head constable pushing around a Sikh and dragging him by his hair has gone viral on social media, sparking a nationwide outrage among members of Sikh community.
A 50-second video shows the cops dragging the man identified as Prem Singh at the feet of the policeman, who then pulls him by his hair town in full public view and another policeman push a turbaned man, who comes to save Mr Singh. Prem Singh, is a resident of Palsud Granthi is caretaker of a gurdwara and reader of Guru Granth Sahib, the central religious scripture of Sikhism. The incident reportedly took place on Thursday during a checking of vehicles by the two cops.
Leaders belonging to Congress besides Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal took to Twitter to condemn the incident.
Appealing the crowd to save them, Prem Singh is heard shouting in Hindi, “They are beating us, they are killing us, the police are pulling us by our hair… They are not allowing us to set up our stall.” He alleged the policemen assaulted him after he refused to pay them bribe.
Home Minister Dr Narrottam Mishra informed that two policemen have been suspended. A probe has been ordered into the incident. Barwani district Superintendent of Police Nimish Agrawal said Prem Singh is an accused in three cases of theft in Jabalpur district. NDTV quoted him as saying “Our policemen were on vehicle-checking duty when they stopped two men, including Prem Singh, riding a motorcycle. While the riders didn’t have driving licence, one of them was drunk. When the policemen tried to bring them to the outpost, one of them created a ruckus there.”