Jodhpur constable kneels on man’s neck for not wearing a mask, video goes viral

Yash Goel

Our Correspondent

A video showing cops in Jodhpur throwing a person on the ground and pressing his neck with their knees has fuelled allegations of police brutality. The Jodhpur police have denied the charges.

Officials said that on Thursday a man identified as Mukesh Kumar Prajapat was waiting at a bus stand near Pratap Nagar area when two motorcycle-borne policemen on a patrol spotted him without a mask.

Videos of the incident show an argument break out between one of the policemen and Prajapat with the latter claiming that he was indeed wearing a mask. The footage then shows a heated exchange between the cops and Prajapat. At some point during the exchange, Prajapat is seen punching one of the cops forcing an equally violent reaction.

The video then shows the two cops pounce on the man throwing him down to the ground and pressing is neck with their knees. With the video going viral, netizens started comparing the police action with George Floyd incident in US.

#GeorgeFloyd moment for Congress In Jodhpur,Rajasthan police place their knee on the neck of a man pic.twitter.com/orFAquVkwF

— Chayan Chatterjee (@Satyanewshi) June 5, 2020

But the Jodhpur police have denied the allegation.  Jodhpur Police Commissioner Praful Kumar told The Tribune on Friday, “Two constables of Police Station Pratap Nagar tried to challan him for not wearing a mask. The accused then started arguing and was asked to stay back while the police team comes. At that point he started assaulting the two police men, tore their uniform and threatened to blind them. He became violent and was detained with great effort with the help of public. A case has been registered for assault on public servant and he has been arrested,” said Kumar.

The police commissioner rejected demands for action against the cops but maintained that a case has been registered and a probe is on.