DEHRADUN: Taking cognisance of the allegations of locals being subjected to police harassment in Chamoli, Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has ordered a probe into incident by Garhwal commissioner Sushil Kumar. In a tweet, Dhami said that Kumar would present his probe report to the state government.
The development comes a day after a video purportedly showing police and CISF staff stopping a group of three women and a man carrying grass near Helang village of Chamoli district went viral. While the women have accused cops of harassing them, police have maintained that only a small portion of the video is being circulated to malign. Cops have further said that the women were encroaching upon government land.
The episode has also caught the attention of Congress and independent MLAs. Backing the local women, Umesh Sharma, independent MLA from Khanpur, has said that the group of locals -- identified as Mandodari Devi, Leela Devi, Sangeeta Bhandari and Vipin Bhandari -- were harassed when they were carrying grass for their cattle. Echoing a similar opinion, Garima Dasauni, Congress media panel member, told TOI, “This was an unfortunate incident. The government should take stringent measures against the cops who can be seen harassing locals in the video.”
Meanwhile, the district authorities have released a video of Anand Sailani, gram pradhan of Helang village, in response. In the video, Sailani can be heard saying, “These women had been obstructing official work for some time now. When police finally took action against them, they circulated a portion of the video to mislead people.”
Shewta Choubey, superintendent of police, Chamoli, said, “The locals were removed from the spot and taken to Joshimath police station. Later in the day, they were all released”
