?I can?t sleep, even though I?m on strong painkillers. Every time I close my eyes, the events flash through my mind,? said Akshay Gambhir, thrashed by law-keepers on Tuesday and still traumatised on Thursday.

Those entrusted with the task of protecting the citizen had, on Tuesday, launched a cruel assault on Gambhir, for no fault of his.

If Wednesday had been spent dealing with the aftershock, by Thursday evening battered Gambhir had pulled himself together and raised a cry for justice.

On Tuesday afternoon, Gambhir?s wife Keerat, driving a Maruti Zen, accidentally damaged the tail-light of a Wagon R belonging to Dibyendu Mahajan, a doctor attached to the Calcutta Police Hospital. This was on Gurusaday Dutta Road, near the Birla Industrial and Technological Museum, around 2.15 pm.

Mahajan confronted Keerat and her aunt, and allegedly berated them at length, till Gambhir arrived at the spot.

Even as Gambhir was offering to pay for the damage suffered by Mahajan?s car, a dozen cops allegedly surrounded him and started beating him up. He was later dragged into a police van and taken to Ballygunge police station.

Bullied and bruised by the force, Gambhir spent Thursday seeking legal advice in between medical treatment. By late evening, he had decided to write to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, with copies of the letter to home secretary Amit Kiran Deb and police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee.

Gambhir plans to pen a blow-by-blow account of Tuesday?s events, while also voicing fears of a backlash, with the bully brigade in uniform targeting his family. ?I just don?t want this sort of thing to happen to anyone else,? he said.

News of the shock assault on a citizen has sent ripples through Lalbazar.

?I have heard about the incident,? said commissioner Mukherjee. ?I have sought a detailed report on the matter from a senior police officer of joint commissioner rank.?

The Gambhirs also spoke to several senior police officers through the day, and were assured that the probe would proceed in right earnest.

Dibyendu Mahajan, the doctor who had demanded Rs 3,000 from Gambhir for a damaged tail-light, did not receive calls made to his mobile phone throughout Thursday.

On Wednesday, he had said he was associated with an organisation of doctors that was due to meet on Thursday to discuss the incident.

?I have spoken to several doctors about what happened. We will also meet the commissioner of police and seek his help,? countered Mahajan.

Lending a local political twist to the tale was Rabin Deb, CPM legislator from Ballygunge and chief whip of the state Assembly.

?If Gambhir was harassed without any reason, it is, indeed, a shameful incident. I will definitely look into the matter,? he stated.