Kolkata Traffic Police — kolkata police harassed and tortured me

Address:

Kolkata, West Bengal, 700054

Date: 5th march 2019
Time: 6:27 pm
Address: mahatma gandhi rd, bortola, barabazar market, kolkata, west bengal 700007

I was exiting a lane (Basantlal murarka road) to cross the abovementioned road (Mg road). There is another lane on the opposite side of the main road (Pageyaputty) where i wanted to go. Owing to the buses on the main road, both lanes have ropes tied for pedestrian safety, which are removed only when it is safe to cross the road. This is managed by sergeants and their co-officers.

Yesterday at the aforementioned time there were a lot of people standing beside me waiting to cross the road. I saw that a lot of people were crossing the road by dodging the rope. It was an emergency so i too removed that rope and began to cross the road. The officer stopped me by holding my shirt by the collar and pushed me behind the rope. This greatly angered me, but i still kept my cool and started moving along the rope, while staying behind it.

The officer kept following me and elbowing me in, although i never tried to cross the rope a second time. When the rope was removed for all to cross, i crossed the road and went towards my shop in the opposite lane.

I wanted to take action against this misbehavior, so i returned to take a picture of the officer. When he saw me taking a picture, he became absolutely furious.
He began to hit me, which prompted a few officers to come, they held me and began to hit me with lathis. They literally held me up and hit me relentlessly, although i was within my rights to do what i did. They kept hurling abuses at me. They snatched my phone and tried to delete the picture. They said things like, "aaj toh tera gaand faadega". They did not give me a chance to explain myself. They dragged me to the strand road booth. My shop staff which had seen the entire commotion informed my father, who came to the booth and spoke to the officers in a calm manner and took me away.

In the entire episode, i did not violate any rule whatsoever. I did not deserve this unfair treatment and am completely shaken. I do accept my fault of trying to cross the road in the first place, but when the officer stopped me, i had obeyed.

I should not have been treated so badly just because i wanted to take a picture to take action against the officer.

This is a case of police brutality and absolute misuse of power. Serious action must be taken against such officers.

We live in a democracy and not a dictatorship.

I've truly lost faith in the department. If things like these keep happening, innocent citizens will keep suffering. It's a disgrace.

Please take appropriate and swift action against the officers involved.