Hyderabad: A 20-year-old man was left with a bleeding head injury during a night-time police patrol after he was coming back from religious gathering in Telangana’s Mahabubnagar town earlier this month, with his family alleging that police beat him even as the police said he got hurt running into a wall as he fled.
The youth, Fayaz, was injured on the night of October 2-3. A video circulating on social media shows him bleeding from the head as relatives help him to his feet.
His family said he was walking home from a nearby Gyarvi religious gathering when he was attacked. Speaking to Siasat.com, police disputed disputed both the claim of assault and the account of where he was coming from.
Police version
Inspector M Appaiah of Mahabubnagar Town I Police Station told Siasat.com that the incident took place during a “Mission Chabutra” drive.
According to him, police received two complaints that night, around midnight and again at about 1.30 am, about four young men making a commotion outside houses in the locality. When a patrol team reached the spot and tried to counsel them, the youths ran away, he said.
The inspector denied that Fayaz had been at the religious event. He said the youth hurt himself by crashing into the wall and door of a house while trying to escape.
Appaiah said closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage of the incident has been submitted to the Telangana High Court and that further action will depend on its orders. He declined to say more because the matter is before the court.
Two cases against youth
Siasat.com accessed two first information reports (FIR) registered against Fayaz.
The first was filed on a complaint by his neighbour, Mohammed Khader. It charges him with trespass and criminal intimidation under Sections 329(4) and 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The second was registered on a complaint by police constable Kowdi Raju. It invokes BNS provisions on using criminal force against a public servant (Section 132), common intention (Section 3(5)), defamation (Section 356) and statements causing public mischief (Section 353).
Lawyer disputes account
Fayaz’s counsel, advocate Mounis Abidi, rejected the police version. He said Blue Colts personnel patrolling the area spotted Fayaz near his home, chased him and struck him with a baton.
Abidi also questioned both FIRs. He said the neighbour named as complainant in the first case had alleged that police took his signature on blank sheets of paper before registering it.
The advocate further claimed that constable Raju, the complainant in the second case, was drunk at the time. According to Abidi, when a local journalist confronted Raju, the constable replied, “Yes, I am drunk, do whatever you can about it.”
Abidi said Fayaz’s family had complained against the constable, but no FIR has been registered against him.
What is Mission Chabutra
The drive takes its name from the chabutra, a raised platform outside homes where people in Hyderabad’s Old City traditionally gather. The South Zone police in Hyderabad began Operation Chabutra in 2015 to discourage young people from congregating at these spots late at night.
It has since been adopted in other towns across the state. In a recent week-long drive in the Charminar zone, police said they counselled 1,022 youngsters.
The drive has drawn criticism. Residents who initially supported it as a non-violent way of policing young men have grown uneasy at reports of it becoming heavy-handed.
