Four people in Muzaffarnagar were released by the Uttar Pradesh police on December 30 after ten days of custody because they couldn’t find any proof against them. The four, Ateeq Ahmed (24), Mohd Khalid (53), Shoaib Khalid (26) and a government office clerk, were arrested by the police for suspected involvement in the December 20 violence in the city, reported The Indian Express.
The city’s SP Satpal Antil told the paper that the four were arrested on doubts of being involved in rioting and stone-pelting on top of the clerk’s house. People were convinced that the owner of the house was also involved in the ruckus.
He told the paper, “We are undertaking a very fair investigation and if we find that somebody was not part of rioting or stone-pelting, accordingly we are taking action.” The wrongfully accused were released as per Section 169 of the CrPC as the police accepted that they couldn’t gather any proof against them in the report.
The police also denied allegations of human rights violations, the SP said, “Lathis were only used during riot control. Everyone’s human rights were ensured.”
The recently released men talked about their ordeal with the paper. They said that the clerk was picked up from his house after 10.30 p.m while he was sleeping at his house. One of the four said, “It was around 10.30 pm. I was asleep, and the next thing I knew our gate had been broken and a group of around 60 policemen and 50-odd locals were breaking everything. I was repeatedly hit on my legs and shoulders with lathis.”
The man also alleged that the police denied them food and water and when asked for water told them to drink their urine. He also said that inside the jail, they were treated well, he also received medicine for his wounds.
The man’s son is still in jail, he said, “I don’t know when he will be let out. If at all he will.”
