CAA Protests: Police accused of excesses in Aurangabad

Police have so far arrested 40-odd people for allegedly throwing stones at policemen during the march.

Several families in Bihar’s Aurangabad have alleged police excesses after a march against the new citizenship law on Saturday. Police have so far arrested 40-odd people for allegedly throwing stones at policemen during the march.

Sajid Nawab alleged that his brother Shahbaz was beaten up without cause while he was parking his car. “When all the protesters had dispersed, Shahbaz was parking his car. A police team came and started beating him up without giving him any chance to explain. Just because we are living near the area where a protest took place does not mean we are culprits…Let police see video footage that has gone viral to differentiate between the culprit and the innocent,” Sajid said, adding that his brother had to be hospitalised.

Farhin Fatmi, who lives in Delhi, has taken to the social media to express dismay at instances of police excesses. “One of my aunts said the police had asked the location of male members of her family at gunpoint. This is not the way the police should function,” said Fatmi.

Aurangabad SP Dipak Kumar Barnwal told The Indian Express, “We have seized over a dozen sacks of stone pieces from Quereshi and Shahganj in Town police station area on Saturday. All arrests were made from the spot. Over a dozen policemen were injured. We had to use force in some cases but police have to do it at times. But if there are specific complaints of police excess with supporting evidence, we will surely look into them.”