Badaun: In a viral video, police in Badaun were seen making people hold up their hands at gun point while they check their vehicle.
People found this act as 'hazardous' and 'humiliating' for the common man.
SSP of Badaun Ashok Kumar Tripathi said, “The way people were checked is not a norm. It was done by our personnel as a drill so that they could respond efficiently if a person they are checking turns out be criminal. I have advised all officials that this must not be repeated with common people again.”
Police point gun at people during regular vehicle checking in Wazirganj, Badaun. (20.6.19) pic.twitter.com/N02fSAYwsx
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According to residents of the area, this has become a routine manner of checking by the police there.
“If you are driving and cops want to stop you, they will do that with a gun in their hand. The method is very intimidating for the common man. The cops make no concession even if the driver is a woman,” said Raj Kumar Agarwal, a businessman.
Iqbal Ahmed, a social activist of Badaun, asked, “How can police do drill on common people? If they want to do such drill they must do it in a controlled environment. But this was clearly done to harass and intimidate people.”
Clearing police’s stand, Sanjay Kumar Singh, station house officer (SHO) of Wazirganj police station, said, “The checking was done as per the laid down procedure of tacking hostile situation. The intention of our personnel was not to intimidate anyone.”
A police official in Badaun said: “Badaun is a crime prone area and we keep our guns out because you never know which vehicle is carrying criminals. We have to remain prepared.”
A video and some photographs of the policemen frisking people and checking their vehicles with one policeman pointing a gun at them, forcing them to stand motionless in hands-up position has gone viral on various social media platforms.
