Kanagara (Dist. Dharashiv) : Under influence of liquor, police forced their way in houses of men and women who were demanding ban on liquor; and then beat them up. (Will drunkard police ever implement the law banning sale of liquor ? This incident proves why people of this country are not only afraid of criminals but also of police. – Editor, Daink Sanatan Prabhat) Detailed news in this regard was telecast by Marathi news channel ‘ABP Mazaa’.
1. Liquor shops were not being closed at Kanagara despite local residents giving representations on number of occasions.
2. On 26th May, therefore, few women went to local police station and demanded to close down such liquor-bar.
3. The police officer at police station threatened those women of detaining them in custody if they did not show proof of sale of liquor.
4. In the evening as women found that sale of liquor was going on, they contacted police.
5. The women showed liquor in a can as 4-5 police reached there; but one policeman tilted the can and shouted at the women asking them, “Where is the liquor?”
6. Few women answered the police back; so one constable got angry and he tried to snatch away ‘mangalsutra’ worn by a woman.
7. The local residents present there got angry and had argument with policemen leading to fight. Local residents beat up police who had attacked the woman.
8. Police went back only to return. At 10.00 p.m., Superintendent of Police (SP) Sachin Patil entered the village along with more than 200 policemen.
9. They started beating up any and every person they came across including women and children.
10. One youth was beaten up till he fell unconscious. Even after he fell unconscious, they kept on beating him.
11. Police broke open house of residents whose doors were closed. They removed tin roof-sheds of houses whose doors they could not break open and beat up people from those houses; threw away their belongings thus causing destruction.
12. Till 4.00 a.m. police went on beating more than 150 people and finally after creating such pandemonium, they took into custody 40 men and 7 women detaining them in police station.
13. The local residents informed that police were drunk when they created such pandemonium.
14. Police created obstacles in reporter’s way so that they did not reach the place of incident for compilation of news.
15. SP Sachin Patil refused to give any response in this matter. The Home Minister (State) has promised to conduct inquiry into the matter through a deputy Inspector General of Police.