Video Editor: Sandeep Suman
“I was in the IPS for 32 years. You may have heard about Kiran Bedi. She was my batchmate.” That was how former IPS Officer SR Darapuri began his speech while addressing the women who were a part of the anti CAA sit-in at Khureji in East Delhi.
Darapuri is a Lucknow-based activist and member of the group ‘Rihai Manch’ that has been closely tracking cases of fake encounter in UP under the Yogi government. On 20 December, he was arrested by the UP police in connection with the violence during the CAA stir.
Darapuri claims he was ill-treated while in custody and maintains that the action of UP police was one-sided, targeting the minority community. “If the police can behave with me in such a manner, then how would they be treating a common man?” he told the audience at Khureji while sharing his own experience.
Darapuri was neither allowed to seek legal help nor did the police record his statement. He spent 14 days in jail. Darapuri, now 76, had retired from the position of IG and has spent a large part of his career in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
“I was told that all the people arrested before me were beaten up badly. If they happened to be Muslims, then they were beaten up twice.”SR Darapuri, Former IPS Officer
Speaking to The Quint, Darapuri said that though “there have been complaints in the past about the police being communal”, he saw “how the police was using slurs and spreading hatred.”
“The Muslim (protesters) had been segregated from the non-Muslim ones. During our conversation, the non-Muslim protesters revealed that they were affiliated to the BJP and RSS and so should be taken care of.”SR Darapuri, Former IPS Officer
The Quint has not been able to verify independently the role of BJP supporters in stone-pelting.
In the last few years, Darapuri has been a vocal critic of the state government and raised concerns on the role of the police after inspector Subodh Singh was killed in the 2019 Bulandshahr violence. He had also publicly raised questions on the role of right-wing groups in inflaming passion during the 2018 Kasganj violence.
Darapuri also said, “Of those arrested, none of them was present at the spot of incident.” He’s planning to take legal action against the police conduct which he believes amounted to infringement of rights.
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