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New Delhi: Two farmer leaders from western Uttar Pradesh have alleged that they were brutally thrashed, humiliated and subject to torture by the district police chief of Meerut and other police officers inside his office and another location on August 19. The Meerut police initially denied the allegations, claiming that the two men – Digvijay Singh Bhati and Mohit Jatav – sustained injuries after their scooter skidded while they were returning home after meeting the police. However, amid much outrage a probe was initiated by the Additional Director General of Police, Meerut Zone on Friday (August 21).

Meanwhile, the under-fire Senior Superintendent of Police Meerut, Avinash Pandey, who is accused of orchestrating the alleged torture, was transferred to the the DGP headquarters in Lucknow on August 20. He was among the nine IPS officers who were transferred but, unlike others, was not allotted a new district.  

Last month, Pandey faced severe criticism after a video surfaced showing him pacing up to a van and repeatedly slapping a Dalit activist, advocate Ravi Gautam, who was already pinned inside the vehicle. The incident happened during a protest demanding better investigation in the murder of Lalita Gautam, a student from Meerut who belonged to the Dalit community. The latest allegations of torture are linked to that protest and the police action thereafter.

Bhati and Jatav’s allegations against the police

With a swollen left eye, Bhati, an Amroha resident and president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (B.R. Ambedkar faction), broke down as he narrated the alleged torture before mediapersons. Bhati said that he and his associate Jatav had gone to meet SSP Pandey in his office on August 19 to discuss the July protest case, in which police had booked him and others for violence, accusing him of being the main orchestrator of the blockade.  While Bhati belongs to the Gurjar community, an Other Backward Caste community, Jatav is a Dalit. 

In a video shared on social media, Bhati said that he and Jatav met the SSP around 11:30 am to request him........

© The Wire