A probe was ordered by the SSP Noida in this matter after the news went viral on social media.
Senior Superintendent of Police of Gautam Buddh Nagar, Vaibhav Krishna, on Saturday refuted the allegations made by a Noida-based journalist that two policemen assaulted him.
Rahul Kadyan, a sports producer with a private TV channel, had recounted the incident which took place on late Thursday. Waiting for a cab with his friend at Sector 18 metro station, he noticed that two constables of Sector 20 police station were driving in the wrong lane, that too, without wearing the mandatory helmet.
He objected to the two motorcycle-borne cops for flouting traffic rules. Infuriated by his objection, the duo picked up an argument with him. When the altercation intensified, the cops, on a high of power, pounced on him raining blows. Later, they took him to the police station and kept him in the lock up for the night.
A probe has been ordered by the SSP, Noida after the news started taking rounds on social media on Friday. During the probe carried out by Circle Officer Noida, Shwetabh Pandey, it was found that an altercation did take place between the two local policemen and the journalist. But the assault turned out to be false.
In a statement, the police admitted that Kadyan was taken to the police station after a police response vehicle (PRV) reached the spot and found the situation going out of hand.
The statement also mentioned that when asked about the contact number of any of his family members, he could not recall any as he was allegedly in an inebriated state and his phone was also broken in the scuffle. Later, he was again asked to provide a phone number in the station but he could not give.
His medical check up, conducted at the district hospital at 1:40 pm, concluded that he was under influence of a heavy dose of alcohol because of which he was ‘gait staggering’ and had ‘speech slurring’.
Based on the medical report, a case under Section 290 (punishment for creating public nuisance) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against the journalist and he was handed over to his brother at around 7 am on Friday.
Though CCTV footage of the incident is available, an eyewitness told the police that Kaydan and his friend were, in fact, beaten up by 6-7 unidentified men. Constables Pradeep Bhati and Neeraj Pundir came on the scene only after the incident. Chandar Kumar, the eyewitness, had also received minor injuries during the scuffle.
A disciplinary action against the two constables has also been initiated by the Noida police.The SSP on Saturday tweeted that the Noida Police is and will be committed to discipline its men. He also said that the men who had assaulted the journalist would be traced soon.
