A physically-challenged man was allegedly thrashed by a Railway Police Force constable at the busy Howrah station here late Wednesday night following which the constable was suspended on Thursday, Eastern Railway sources said.
The incident took place around 11.30 pm on Wednesay when Aslam, a resident of Delhi who had come to Ganga Sagar, was asked to leave the station complex by RPF Constable Premananda Kumar Singh. Aslam, who doesn’t have his right leg said he was waiting to board the Poorva Express the next morning and also produced his ticket, but Singh asked him to move as unauthorised people are not allowed at the station for security and cleanliness reasons, eye witnesses said.
While Singh came back for his rounds, he saw Aslam still sitting there and began to kick and slap him. No one intervened. The deputy superintendent of the station then came and stopped Singh. The injured Aslam was taken to the Howrah State General Hospital and was later released. Aslam boarded the Poorva Express in the morning and left for Delhi.
Kanti Ganguly, general secretary of the West Bengal Pratibandhi Sammilani visited the station and held a demonstration condemning the incident. “It brings out the inhuman side of the Railway Police. They mercilessly beat up a boy who doesn’t have a leg. We demand immediate action against the constable concerned. If no action is taken we will bring the boy back from Delhi and file a case against the RPF constable at the Calcutta High Court,” Ganguly said. He also alleged that the RPF constable was in an inebriated state when the incident happened.
A departmental probe has been initiated against the constable who was suspended, a senior GRP official said on conditions of anonymity. “CCTV footage has revealed that Singh had beaten him up for apparently no reason. Aslam’s crutch was also seen lying around in the footage. An inquiry has been started against Singh,” said a senior GRP official.
With inputs from PTI