Amid the novel coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent lockdown, people have been stranded without adequate funds or resources in many parts of the country. At this time, political workers and volunteers have stepped up to provide the needy with food and other essential resources. Alongside the threat of the virus, they also have to keep the rules guiding the lockdown in mind when they work.
On Wednesday, Saimon Farooqui the National Students' Union of India's National Secretary took to Twitter to allege that he had been stopped and "lathicharged brutally" while distributing ration to poor families. He added that he had filed a complaint regarding the same.
"I've been distributing ration to poor families and daily wagers since a while. Yesterday, while going to buy ration for the poor, I and a friend was stopped at Lisari gate chowki and lathicharged brutally. We were made to sign a notice without reading it," he wrote, sharing photos of injuries.
Farooqui said they were thrashed without any particular reason being given. "On opposing the act, they hit us," he said, adding that the official in question was Bhuvnesh Kumar Singh of the UP Police.
Farooqui said that he had observed the official doing this to everyone at the check post, "that too at the time when it was permissible to buy essential items".
The NSUI later took to Twitter to put out a communique, demanding that "strict action" be taken for the misuse of power.
"The member of our party and one of his friend was brutally beaten up by police constables on his way to the ration shop to buy goods for his NGO's poor and needy people near the Lisadi Gate Chonki Meerut. The constables even asked them to sign on a blank document with no information about whom is it addressed to," the letter said.
