NOIDA: Over 300 lawyers on Tuesday marched towards the commissionerate office in Sector 108 and protested against the “hooliganism” and “corruption” prevalent under the commissionerate system but were stopped on their way by police resulting in the protesters starting a sit-in for three hours on the road near the Yatharth hospital, Sector 110.
Angered over an incident of alleged assault and misbehavior with a lawyer by Phase II police last week, the lawyers wanted to gherao the commissionerate office in Sector 108 and meet the GB Nagar police commissioner.
However, the Noida police barricaded the entire commissionerate office and deployed several teams of civil police from different police stations and traffic police personnel at all the four sides of the commissionerate office.
Raising slogans like “tanashahi nahi chalegi (dictatorship won’t be tolerated), “bhrashtachaar nahi chalega (corruption won’t be tolerated),” the lawyers led by the GB Nagar bar association president Manoj Bhati marched towards the commissionerate office.
Lawyer demanded that the SHO of Phase II police station and the sub-inspector Arvind Kumar be suspended and an FIR be lodged against them.
The sub-inspector had allegedly detained Mahesh Nagar (38) when he was returning home from Noida.
While the cops said that Nagar was heavily drunk and driving his car in a drunken state, lawyers said that a sub-inspector allegedly slapped Nagar repeatedly and his phone was snatched.
Manoj Bhati, president of the Gautam Budh Nagar bar association said that Nagar was slapped repeatedly and confined in the lock-up.
“The lawyer was slapped by the SI and put in lock-up. If he was drunk, there should have been action against him under relevant sections. A medical examination should have been conducted. How can they beat up someone like this?,” he asked adding that the Phase II SHO was acting “unrestrained.”
“When lawyers are not safe in the commissionerate system, what will be the situation of common man,” Bhati asked.
After a three-hour long protest by the lawyers and argument with a brigade of police officers including additional DCPs and ACPs, the police asked a representative group of the lawyers to come for talks at the office.
However, while the group wanted to meet the police commissioner, they were instead asked to meet the additional commissioner of police (law and order) Love Kumar.
The meeting between Kumar, additional DCP (Noida) Ranvijay Singh, additional DCP (central Noida) Ankur Aggarwal and the lawyers continued for about an hour but the two sides failed to reach a resolution.
“The police commissioner has not even met us. We met the additional commissioner of police. The police is adamant on not taking any action on the police officers concerned. We have called a meeting of the bar association at the Surajpur court premises on Wednesday where we will decide the future course of our protest,” Bhati said.
Additional commissioner of police (law and order) Love Kumar said that he has directed that an inquiry be ordered in the incident.
“According to Phase II police, the lawyer was allegedly driving in drunken state and he was not assaulted. An inquiry has been ordered which will be carried out by an ACP-level officer from a different area. An action can be taken after the inquiry report comes,” he added.
