Sachin Savant, a CoBRA commando, who was allegedly ‘manhandled, chained, handcuffed’ and arrested by Belagavi police on 23 April, was granted bail by a Belagavi court on Tuesday, 28 April. Savant had been produced before a judicial magistrate soon after his arrest on 23 April, following which he was remanded to judicial custody.
An inquiry has been ordered into the incident involving the arrest and ‘abuse’ of a CRPF personnel in Karnataka’s Belagavi last week, DGP Karnataka Praveen Sood said. The decision has reportedly been taken on the order of state Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
Taking up the matter of the alleged abuse of a Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA) unit member while on leave in Belagavi, on 23 April, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had written to the Director General of Police in Karnataka.
According to news agency ANI, the commando, Sachin Savant, aged 27 years, was reportedly thrashed and dragged barefoot to a police station, allegedly for violating COVID-19 lockdown norms by not wearing a mask and deterring a public servant from discharging duty. The incident reportedly took place when Savant was cleaning his motorbike outside his home in Examba village.
Inspector General of Police (Northern Range) Belagavi confirmed to The Quint that the commando had been granted bail and that the fact-finding inquiry ordered by the DGP would take place, taking into account all material evidence on record.
“Some altercation had taken place, as can be seen from the video. We will examine all the evidence. Whether central or state force, they are our own people,” he said.
The CRPF is mulling "a counter FIR against the atrocious action of the police" against the jawan, a senior officer of the paramilitary force told PTI.
BJP minister CT Ravi tweeted that the “issue will be resolved amicably.” BJP leader Ramesh Jarkiholi condemned the incident,
The FIR has been registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code like 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 353, (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharging duty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and section 3 of Epidemic Disease Act.
The force has reportedly written to DGP Praveen Sood stating that the "unpleasant situation could have been avoided had the state police taken the CRPF hierarchy into confidence before making the arrest". The COBRA unit of the CRPF specialises in guerrilla tactics and jungle warfare.
Differing Versions
The CRPF letter said commando Savant was "manhandled, ill-treated, paraded to the police station barefooted, kept in chains and handcuffs" by police personnel.
According to ANI, the Belagavi SP said: “Two police constables, who were on duty for implementation of lockdown, saw five people sitting outside a house. Seeing the police, four people ran away... the one remaining person, who was a CRPF constable, argued with the police personnel.” PTI reported cops as saying that the “commando started the altercation" with the beat constable and another policeman accompanying him, and "assaulted" them.
The CRPF has countered this by saying that Savant had informed the policemen that he was not wearing the mask as he was just outside his home.
Conduct of Police Personnel Not Citizen-Centric: CRPF Letter
The letter to the DGP went on to reportedly state that "it is apparent that the conduct of police personnel was not citizen-centric."
Written by a special director general-rank officer on behest of CRPF Chief AP Maheshwari, the letter requested the DGP to get the matter inquired and "provide justice to the jawan, keeping the gravity of the incident and its impact on the relationship between the two forces."
"We have taken up the case with state police chief of Karnataka. His (Savant) bail plea is coming before the court on Tuesday and the CRPF, too, shall be in court through its local officers. Thereafter, case investigation shall be followed up to take it to the logical conclusion," CRPF spokesperson Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Moses Dhinakaran told PTI.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
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