The Mumbai Police on Thursday ordered an inquiry and removed a police driver from his post after a video showed him threatening youth protesters by saying he would “plant 50 grams of powder” on them, The Hindu reported.
The police said that “action will be taken after verifying the facts”. The police driver, who was posted at the Sion Police Station, has been shifted pending the inquiry, the Maharashtra Home Department said.
In the video, which was widely shared, including by the Cockroach Janta Party, the police driver can be heard warning two young persons against returning to the protest site and threatening to frame them in a drug case.
“If I see you around here again, then it will not be good for you,” he can be heard saying. “I will directly plant 50 grams of powder. Then your life is gone. You won’t get bail. We are in trouble because of you all.”
The protests in Delhi began on June 6, when the political campaign Cockroach Janta Party started its demonstration at Jantar Mantar to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, alleging that he was responsible for paper leaks in national competitive examinations.
On Sunday, thousands joined the protest in Delhi after the police forcibly shifted activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike, to a hospital.
A march to Parliament on Monday was met with heavy police action. Dozens of protesters were injured in baton charges and had to brave tear gas.
The police action widened the support for the agitation, which soon spread to other cities, including Mumbai.
Also read: How Mumbai Police is using surveillance to stop youth from protesting
Bengaluru man booked for ‘abusive remark’ against Modi
The Bengaluru Police on Thursday registered a first information report against a man identified as Hudson for posting allegedly abusive remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Instagram, The Indian Express reported.
The action was taken on a complaint filed by the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sarvagnanagar unit, The Hindu reported.
The complaint said that Hudson shared a video from the Instagram account “madonly” criticising the Union government’s response to the ongoing youth protests. The video contained allegedly abusive words referencing Modi.
The case has been registered under sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sahita pertaining to promoting enmity, intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace and transmitting obscene content electronically.
Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.
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