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GHAZIABAD: A policeman who visited a journalist’s house in Ghaziabad on Thursday for passport renewal verification was suspended after she alleged he had patted her on the thigh and hugged her forcefully.

In a series of tweets, the journalist, who reports for a national English daily and is in her mid-20s, described the policeman’s behaviour throughout the visit as “pathetically uncomfortable”. She said that at one point, he told her, “I have done your work. Now what will you give me?”

The cop, trainee sub-inspector Devender Singh, was suspended later in the day with Twitter users directing their anger at UP Police. On its Twitter handle, UP Police also said the DGP had ordered an inquiry.

Ghaziabad police chief Vaibhav Krishna directed Indirapuram circle officer Ravi Kumar to conduct the probe. He also asked the journalist to file a complaint at the police station, which she will on Friday.

The journalist said Singh had visited her home, in Ghaziabad’s Vasundhara township, around Thursday noon. “Around 12.10pm, he came to my residence for police verification for my passport renewal. The police officer asked me questions about my place of birth, number of members in my family, and other details which I believed is a part of the verification procedure,” she told TOI.

But the conversation started taking a different turn after that. “When I stated that my native address is Guwahati, he said he was posted there a while ago. Using the Guwahati link, he gave a pat on my thigh, saying “oh we are friends”, despite the fact that I was sitting at a reasonable distance from him. His uninvited touch made me extremely uncomfortable and alarmed and so I got up and went to the kitchen and urged my helper to stay back till the time he left. I could not ask the policeman to leave as I did not have a copy of the house tax document and the exact address of my Guwahati residence, which I was taking on the phone from my father,” she added.

She said Singh declared the verification process was over after the form had been filled and told her she could submit a copy of the property tax receipt later. “As he was about to leave, he asked me what I could give him in return. He said we could be friends now and sought a hug from me. I told him it was not possible. Seeing my resistance, he extended his hand for a handshake and as soon as I raised my hand, he pulled me towards him and forcefully hugged me. I was choking in fear by then and all I wanted was for him to leave the house. He kept talking about being in touch and I simply said that I will give the tax receipt when I get it,” she said.

Krishna said strict action would be taken against Singh if the allegations were found to be true. Despite repeated attempts, Singh could not be contacted for a comment.

