The Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF) has sent a letter to Karnataka police chief, Parveen Sood to inquire into alleged manhandling, and chaining of one of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA) commandos, Sachin Sunil Savant after he was arrested on April 23 by the police in Belagavi’s Examba village.
He is accused of not abiding by the lockdown rules and assaulting the police officers. A photo has gone viral where Savant can be seen chained outside the police station.
The incident began when Savant was found without a mask while washing his motorcycle just outside his house. According to the reports, the police continued beating him despite Savant telling them that he is from COBRA commando. The police also tore apart his clothes, cuffed him and paraded him barefoot.
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In the letter written to Sood, paramilitary force’s additional director general, Sanjay Arora, wrote that the “unpleasant situation” could have been easily prevented had the police taken them into confidence before arresting Savant. Arora also said that the behavior of the police was not citizen-centric.
Arora asked Sood to inquire into the matter and deliver justice to the commando focussing on the seriousness of the incident and the influence it will have on the relationship between the two forces.
“We have taken up the case with the state police chief of Karnataka. His [Savant] bail plea is coming before the court on Tuesday and the CRPF too shall be in court through its local officers. Thereafter, the case investigation shall be followed up to take it to the logical conclusion,” CRPF spokesman Moses Dhinakaran said. Arora in the letter said that Savant has been “falsely implicated” on charges.
Savant has been suspended from his unit until the inquiry is over.
Belagavi police superintendent Laxman Nimbargi said that while the police were patrolling they saw Savant sitting around six men, everyone except him ran away. When the police questioned Savant about it he said, that he himself is a policeman. This all leads to an argument where Savant manhandled the constables and kicked one of them in the stomach.
Nimbarg also said that they have released a video which shows Savant assaulted the constables.
However, Arora said that Savant followed up on his training of being aggressive but only when he was provoked with a lathi, which is a right in self-defense. A case has been registered and the investigation will follow.
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