lucknow

Updated: Jan 25, 2017 13:37 IST

While majority of politicians contest elections for name, fame and power, a retired cop Chahan Singh claims to have entered the political arena to protect the honour of thousands of cops and their ‘vardi’.

He will contest elections from South Meerut as a Shiv Sena candidate against BSP leader Haji Yakoob Qureshi who reportedly humiliated Singh six years ago.

Recalling the incident Singh says, “It was the most dreadful day of my life when Qureshi publicly abused me. Seniors could not muster the courage to oppose a member of the ruling party.”

Singh was instructed to control traffic on a road cordoned off for ‘Ravidas Jayanti’ procession in the old city area six years ago. During the course of his duty, he stopped a swanky new vehicle armed with sirens from entering the road. However, the man behind the wheels introduced himself as Qureshi’s driver and threatened Singh with dire consequences.

Read more: Will exodus issue polarise voters in Mriganka’s favour?

When Singh refused to budge, the driver called Qureshi who arrived with his supporters and tore off Singh’s uniform after slapping him. Singh claims that he was more shocked by the choice of the then CO and SHO to be a mute spectator than Qureshi’s abuse of power.

Singh blames senior police officers including the then SP (city) Prabal Pratap Singh for refusing to lodge an FIR against Qureshi.

Singh approached the court when the police raided his house to coerce force him into dropping the case against the BSP stalwart. The court ruled in Singh’s favour and ordered that a case be lodged against Qureshi.

Chahan says “It hurt me deeply and I decided to oppose Qureshi with my available resources and courage.”

He intended to contest against Qureshi from Sardhana in 2012 but senior police officers objected stating that Singh’s resignation had not been accepted.

Singh after his retirement last year joined Shiv Sena to fulfill his aim of thwarting politicians like Qureshi.

The case is pending in high court with Qureshi being granted a stay on his arrest till investigation completes.

A dejected Singh describes the SP and BSP as two sides of the same coin. He supports his claims with data that suggests that 1575 cops were beaten during the BSP regime and 1625 cops were attacked or murdered during the SP’s rule.

He claims that families of cops support him and he will continue his fight till his last breath.

Read more: Rajnath’s son makes debut after a 14-yr wait