An inspector has been suspended and three policemen taken off active duty over their alleged inaction after a video of a BJP leader humiliating a businessman in Meerut over car parking surfaced on social media, evoking a sharp response from the trading community.
The police have launched a hunt for the accused Vikul Chaprana, vice-president of the Meerut unit of the BJP Kisan Morcha, following the incident on October 19.
“We have suspended Sheelesh Kumar, the inspector of Medical College Police Station, and sent three cops to the police lines. We are trying to arrest Chaprana,” senior superintendent of police (SSP) Vipin Tanda told reporters a few hours after locals, including traders, announced that they would not sit idle and wait for government action.
Police sources said Kumar and three cops were present at the spot when Chaprana publicly insulted Satyam Rastogi, a handloom merchant.
Meerut MP Arun Govil and some BJP leaders dropped by the SSP’s office on Friday and requested him to take quick action against Rastogi’s assailants.
Chaprana and his associates had attacked Rastogi in Tejgarhi and forced him to rub his nose on the ground following a dispute over car parking.
“As usual, I had parked my friend’s car below the office of Somendra Tomar (minister of state for energy) and gone for dinner in a nearby restaurant. When we came back, we found Chaprana’s car parked just behind ours. We requested Chaprana to remove his car so that we could leave, but he started hurling expletives at me. He assaulted me, broke the car screen and said he was a close confidant of Tomar,” Rastogi had told reporters a day after the incident.
The police had arrested four people, including Chaprana, on Tuesday for disturbing peace, but he was granted bail the same day. His three associates — Happy Bhadana, Ayush Sharma and Subodh Yadav — were sent to jail.
The matter became public knowledge two days ago when the video of the incident went viral on social media.
In the video, Rastogi was seen rubbing his nose on the ground and Chaprana was seen saying in Hindi, “Somendra Tomar is my brother and your father”.
Chaprana, who had put up BJP flags and stickers on his car, had allegedly introduced himself as a “senior BJP leader” to the cops present there. In the video, the policemen were seen standing there and supporting Chaprana.
As the video gained traction on social media, Chaprana came live on Facebook and tried to justify his action.
“I was not involved in any brawl with anybody. Rastogi had a fight with some people because he used foul words for the energy minister. My only fault was that I was there on the spot and verbally abused him. I tender my apology to him and the Rastogi community,” he said.
Rastogi had later accused Chaprana of extorting money from local traders.
Vinit Agrawal, a leader of the traders’ association of Meerut, said: “This incident is a reflection of the Taliban-like conditions here. Entire Meerut is agitated and ashamed of the behaviour of the leader (Chaprana).”
Ankush Chaudhary, AAP’s Meerut president, said: “There is discontentment among people. Chaprana is a henchman of Tomar, who himself is a goon. He has forcibly acquired the land of Dalits at Kayastha-Ganwari village in the district and got them registered in his and his associate’s names.”
Tomar said he had asked the police to take action against Chaprana.
