Bhopal: Asked to strip by cops, arrested

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh)

Two police men- Town Inspector (TI) Kotwali Manoj Soni and another SHO in-charge Abhishek Singh Parihar- were attached with police lines after a video went viral in social media claiming that a group of YouTubers, including a journalist, were arrested and stripped down to their undergarments by Sidhi police.

In the photo that has been shared along with the post, eight men are seen standing against the wall, half-naked in their undergarments. The incident allegedly happened on April 2 in Sidhi district. According to police, Journalist and YouTuber Kanishk Tiwari, who has been identified in the photo, had gone to cover the arrest of theatre artist Neeraj Kunder for allegedly passing indecent remarks against BJP MLA Kedarnath Shukla and his son Guru Dutt using a fake ID. Neeraj Kunder is the director of Indravati Natya Samiti in Sidhi district, and has reportedly been working towards saving the art of Vindhyas. As per reports, Kunder had created a fake Facebook ID in the name of Anurag Mishra. Upon his arrest, many people, including Kunder's parents and Tiwari, had gone to the police station.

Another theatre artist Narendra Bahadur Singh, who had gone to the police station in support of Neeraj Kunder, alleged that they were all beaten up and asked to strip. Journalist Kanishk Tiwari was also beaten up. He exposed scams by the local police as well MLA Kedarnath Shukla, and hence faced their ire. ASP Anjulata Patle said, "Kotwali TI Manoj Soni and another SHO Abhishek Singh have been lined attached for stripping down the journalist and others in police station. Police have registered case under IT act in forming fake ID of local MLA and his son. FIR has been registered. They were demonstrating against police action." Former leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Ajay Singh condemned police behavior with journalist Kanishk Tiwari in Sidhi. Singh said, "The incidence reflects that BJP government wants to create terror in media to manage the show as per its wish and will. If anyone has committed any wrong, there is provision in the Constitution to penalize."