Samajwadi Party leader Digvijay Bhati, on Friday, alleged that he was brutally assaulted and tortured by police personnel in Meerut over his involvement in a protest following the murder of a Dalit girl.
Bhati claimed that members of the Special Operations Group (SOG) took him to an undisclosed location, where he was allegedly assaulted and tortured for several hours. He alleged that the action was carried out on the directions of Meerut SSP Avinash Pandey.
The allegations come amid action against the Meerut SSP. Avinash Pandey was transferred on Saturday night and attached to the police headquarters.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also raised allegations of caste-based targeting in the incident. He said, “see what happened in Meerut. He was targeted based on his caste, saying he is from the Gurjar community. He was thrashed just because he was from PDA.”
Following Bhati’s allegations, ADG Meerut Zone Bhanu Bhaskar ordered a probe into the matter. DIG Saharanpur has been tasked with investigating the allegations. The probe will look into Bhati’s claims of assault and alleged police brutality.
Bhanu Bhaskar has said that the allegations will be investigated and appropriate action will be taken based on the findings.