Residents of Langar Toli area clash with the police over civic problems on August 12. Telegraph picture

Patna, Sept. 13: People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), a non-government organisation (NGO) working for human rights has recommended the state government to remove a police officer from his post.

The officer in the eye of the storm is deputy superintendent of police (DSP) (town) Ramakant Prasad.

The NGO has also recommended disciplinary action against him in connection to the August 12 incident in which he had allegedly beaten up a group of protesters who had gathered in the Langer Toli area of the capital raising their voice against the faulty drainage system of the locality.

Following the incident, in which the protestors allegedly turned violent after the DSP with his two bodyguards started beating up the group without even inquiring about the matter, a team of PUCL claimed to have made an investigation into the matter.

The members of the NGO, in a news release issued today, alleged that the protest was going on in a peaceful way until Prasad started beating and roughing up the women folk, who were a part of the protest group.

The crowd retaliated by -pelting stones, in which some policemen and the DSP suffered minor injuries.

A total of 14 people, including, five men were detained by the police later. While the five men were sent to jail, the women were let off.

“The team found out that the case made against the arrested persons was manufactured. We demand the immediate release of the arrested five. The arrest and detention of women protesters was illegal. The team also recommends initiation of criminal procedure against DSP Ramakant Prasad, Lal Babu Singh, the assistant sub-inspector of Kadamkuan police station and other guilty policemen. In addition, a radical police reform is a must in keeping with the increasing legitimate aspiration of the citizen of this country in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Constitution,” the release said.

The PUCL claimed at the Kadamkuan police station, the arrested people were asked to sit on the floor with the police hurling filthy abuses at them. The police kept on beating the men as well.

The situation worsened once the DSP came as he ordered his men to beat up the arrested persons with no media around.

The women were beaten up and the bodyguards of the DSP misbehaved with one, too, the members of the body claimed.

On August 12, the residents of the Langartoli area had blocking the Nala Road under the Kadamkuan police station protesting against the apathetic attitude of Patna Municipal Corporation.

Sources said a drain near the area was not cleaned and was causing sanitary problems for the residents with the dirty water entering their homes.

The residents were facing the misery for the past 10 days with the civic body taking no heed.