Srinagar, Sat, 04 January 2013 : A young journalist was thrashed by police men (cops) in Hazratbal in Srinagar city. Imran Muzaffar, a reporter with Srinagar based daily‘Greater Kashmir,’ was roughed up by cops when he requested them to stay in queue at an Automated Teller Machine outside the Kashmir University when a woman was holding transaction.
Jammu and KashmirHuman Rights Commission (HRC) on 04 January Friday took strong note of assault on Imran Muzaffar by some policemen on Thursday and sought reports from Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Zone, Superintendent of Police and Station House Officer (SHO) Hazratbal into the matter.
“My request didn’t go well with the cops. They held me by my collar and dragged me to the police post near the Hazratbal shrine. All the way through the marketplace, they thrashed me and hurled choicest abuses as if I was a criminal,” Imran told Kashmir Reader on Friday.
“At the choki, one of the cops again beat me. He didn’t stop for at least ten minutes. It was only after the intervention of a munshi that I was let off. I’ve never seen this face of police,” he added.
Imran said he suffered injuries in head and shoulder in the alleged police thrashing. He said the munshi further frightened him for messing up with the men in uniform.
“Have you gone nuts? Don’t you know us? Don’t you know what we can do? They (cops) could have fired at you and killed. Then what would have you done?” Imran quoted the munshi as saying.
However, Imran said that the erring cops didn’t cease the abuses even as their officer was delivering lecture on what police can do.
“I was left off only after I cried like a child, held the feet of cops and begged for forgiveness,” he added.
After the incident, Imran said he visited the office of Superintendent of Police (SP) Hazratbal, Abdul Qayoom. The officer, he said, asked him to write an application so that action can be taken.
Imran said. This is not the first time that the police have been accused of beating journalists. Azhar Qadri, who works with ‘Kashmir Tribune’ newspaper was assaulted by a senior IPS officer when he was covering a protest march outside Old Secretariat in September 2012,.
: Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission (HRC) on Friday took strong note of assault on Greater Kashmir correspondent Imran Muzaffar by some policemen on Thursday and sought reports from Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Zone, Superintendent of Police and Station House Officer (SHO) Hazratbal into the matter.