Bihar's local Hindi newspapers buries the police beatings in their regional pages

PATNA: In yet another incident of police brutality, policemen mercilessly beat up several persons, including women, in Bihar's Nalanda district on Thursday.

The incident occurred when a large crowd trooped in front of the Noorsarai police station to protest against the recent disappearance of a young woman Sushma Kumari alias Reena Devi, who is the panchayat secretary.

The mob alleged that the investigating officer (IO) was protecting the kidnappers and demanded an investigation into the roles of the IO, the station head officer (SHO) and the Deputy Superintendent of Police.

Despite the presence of the DIG (Magadh Range) and other senior officers, the villagers felt that the case was not being dealt with sensitively and resorted to stone pelting and vandalising police property, while raising anti-government slogans.

In response, the local police force rained blows with lathis, beating and thrashing women in the presence of media cameras. Scores of people were injured, sources said.

According to eyewitness reports, more than half a dozen policemen were involved in inflicting violence on women and children.

The footage of a policeman in vest and shorts relentlessly thrashing a middle-aged lady brought back discomfiting memories of the recent Forbesganj police firing in Araria district, where mobile phone cameras caught a homeguard jawan repeatedly kicking and stomping on the body of a fallen victim.

Judicial probe ordered

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ordered the suspension of the IO and two other policemen late on Thursday evening after viewing the footage, and directed a judicial probe into the incident.

However, the incident conveniently received short shrift in Bihar's local Hindi newspapers, which chose to glowingly highlight Mr. Kumar's favourable mention in the U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, while burying the police beatings in their regional pages.

The incident adds to a rash of events in the recent past where excess violence has been employed by Bihar's policemen in dispensing cases.

On Saturday, an indigent rickshaw puller, identified as Shanker Chowdhary, was reportedly beaten to death in custody in a police station in Rohtas district after he was accused of stealing a bagful of copper wire.

Taken in custody around mid-day, he was found hanging in his cell by evening. Initial police versions put out that Chowdhary died a natural death in a local hospital following an unspecified illness. Later, Chowdhary's wife, breaking into tears, claimed she received a call from the police station asking her to cough up Rs. 10,000 if she wanted her husband's safe release.

Following an uproar in the media and among the locals, the Rohtas SP ordered a thorough probe into the affair and suspended five cops, including the SHO of the Dehri police station.

Last month, four policemen led by a sub-inspector, thrashed an innocent tailor from the minority community to death in Muzaffarpur district while hunting for some criminals.

The policemen, who wore civilian clothes, began roughing up some suspects when the tailor, Mohd. Shamsuddin, intervened as he mistook the cops to be criminals.

Eyewitness reports noted that the policemen pounced on Shamsuddin and pummelled him mercilessly. The victim had later died of injuries.