UP Cop Thrashes Man Holding Child In Arm, Suspended After Video Goes Viral. Priyanka Slams Yogi Govt

The incident took place outside the district hospital where several employees have staged a dharna by putting locks on the OPD since Thursday. 

A screeengrab from the viral video. (Image: Twitter/@priyankagandhi)

Kanpur: Amid the ongoing protest by the fourth-class employees at Kanpur district hospital in Akbarpur area, a purported video went viral on social media where a Station House Officer (SHO) of the Uttar Pradesh Police can be seen cane-charging a man while he was holding a child in his arms.

According to reports, the incident took place outside the district hospital where several employees have staged a dharna by putting locks on the OPD since Thursday. 

Soon after the video went viral and several Opposition parties took cognisance of the matter, the SHO was suspended. Meanwhile, Police have claimed the protesters led by Rajnish Shukla, who is seen being beaten up in the video, forcibly took the doctors and patients out of the hospital's OPD.

In the video that went viral, the man can be heard shouting "bacche ko lag jayega" (the child will get hurt).

Priyanka Gandhi Slams Yogi Govt

Reacting strongly to the incident, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandi Vadra took to Twitter and termed Police' action as "human rights violation".

"Uttar Pradesh under @myogiadityanath: #1 in Human Rights Violations," Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandi Vadra said in her tweet with hashtag #HumanRightsDay.

Uttar Pradesh under @myogiadityanath: #1 in Human Rights Violations#HumanRightsDay pic.twitter.com/7dGINm5A4i

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) December 10, 2021

Apart from Congress, leaders of Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) also condemned the attack on protesters.

SHO Suspended

Appropriate action was taken against SHO Mishra after the intervention of Additional DG (Kanpur Zone), Bhanu Bhaskar, who ordered the district officials to conduct a proper inquiry.

Sub-Divisional Officer Vagish Kumar, Circle Officer Arun Kumar, and SHO Vinod Kumar Mishra of the Akbarpur Police rushed to the spot after getting information about the clash and tried to control the situation by urging demonstrators. 

"Officials reached the spot and tried to persuade the demonstrators to end their dharna and prevent them hindering in government work," Kanpur Dehat SP Keshav Kumar Choudhary told news agency PTI.

Sharing further details about the clash, Choudhary claimed that the man even bit SHO Mishra's thumb and manhandle him, after which the policeman beat him with a cane.

Police said the SHO has been suspended with immediate effect so that the incident can be probed in an unbiased manner.

FIRs have been lodged against Shukla and dozens others on charges of assaulting officials and obstructing them from discharging official duties.