Journalist claims assault by cops in Noida; police refute charges

Noida, September 21

A journalist alleged that he was assaulted by two policemen when he cautioned them to be careful while riding motorcycle on the wrong lane without helmets, with the Noida Police saying the scribe was “inebriated” and roughed up by some other “unidentified” men.

The incident took place around 11.30 pm on Thursday when Rahul Kadyan, a producer with a private TV news channel, was waiting along with his friend for their cab outside Sector 18 metro station.

The scribe said he saw the policemen coming on a motorcycle but they were without helmets and also riding in the wrong lane, which prompted his remark: “Be careful.”

Kadyan alleged that he was assaulted and his phone broken by the two local policemen, who also thrashed his friend to the extent that he had to be hospitalised.

He said he was then taken to the Sector 20 police station and held there till 6 o’clock the next morning.

Noida Police, however, said the journalist and his friend were drunk and were beaten up by six to seven unidentified people before the cops concerned had reached there.

It said a probe led by Circle Officer, Noida 1, Shwetabh Pandey, had found that there was an altercation between the two bike-borne local policemen and the journalist but the assault allegations were unfounded.

“The entire episode was caught in the CCTV footage of a nearby restaurant, whose manager told the inquiry committee that he had also reached the spot when the scuffle broke out between the journalist, his friend and six to seven other unidentified men,” the police said in a statement.

“The restaurant manager said he also got caught in the scuffle and received minor injuries and that no policeman was involved in the episode,” the statement said.

Although, it added, there was an altercation between the policemen and Kadyan after his remarks and soon a police PRV reached the spot and he was taken to the police station.

“He was asked at the spot for a contact number of his family but he could not provide it due to his condition (inebriated). Later at the police station, too, he was asked for a number but could not recall, while his cell phone was already damaged,” the police said.

It said, Kadyan was kept at the station and his medical examination was done around 2.30 am which concluded that he “has consumed alcohol”, “is under influence of alcohol”, “gait staggering” and “speech slurring”.

He was handed over to his brother the next morning, the police added.

The police inquiry, based on eyewitness account, concluded that that there was no evidence to prove that Kadyan’s injury were inflicted by the policemen. “These may have possibly got inflicted during his scuffle with the unidentified men,” it said.

Noida Police have initiated disciplinary action against the two officials concerned for the altercation, the statement said.

CCTV footage from the area is being collected for further probe to identify the men who were suspected to have assaulted the journalist, it added. PTI