Six railway cops suspended over beating of woman, her grandson in MP’s Katni

BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday suspended six Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel including a station in-charge in connection with the beating of a woman and her grandson in Katni district.

The opposition Congress claimed that the victims were Dalit. Targeting the Mohan Yadav-led BJP government, Congress leaders staged a sit-in protest inside a police station in Katni, demanding the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against the accused.

“An old video of beating of GRP Katni police station cops is getting viral on social media. After I took cognizance of it, I have asked DIG Rail to go to the spot for probing the incident. As per the preliminary probe, I have ordered the suspension with immediate effect of the then GRP police station in-charge, a head constable and four constables,” chief minister Yadav said in a post on X.

Station in-charge Aruna Vahne, head constable Ajay Shrivastava, constables Shoaib Abbasi, Salman Khan, Omkar Sirsam, and woman constable Varsha Dube were suspended, an official said.

The action came after the Congress on Wednesday shared a purported video of the incident, said to have taken place in October 2023, on X. On Thursday, state Congress president Jitu Patwari and media department chairman Mukesh Nayak visited Katni and met Kusum Vanskar, the victim woman, and her grandson.

The two victims narrated, in front of reporters, how they were mercilessly beaten with sticks in the police station.

Patwari asked Kusum Vanskar if she wanted an FIR registered against the cops, to which she nodded yes. The Congress leaders then accompanied her to the police station.

They staged a sit-in at the police station with Patwari averring that they will not leave until the FIR was registered. The protest was ongoing till late in the evening.

Earlier, five cops were taken off field duty on Thursday over the incident.

“There was a person named Deepak Vanshkar against whom 19 cases are registered, and who was absconding. He was also externed from the district. His family members had been called to the police station last October for questioning in this regard,” Superintendent of Police (GRP) Simala Prasad told PTI.

“The video of the questioning went viral. Cases had also been registered against the woman and minor in Katni. All the police personnel visible in the video have been line-attached (taken off field duty),” SP Prasad added.

Probe was underway as to why the woman and her grandson were treated in this way and how the official footage of the incident became public, she further said.

Deputy Inspector General, railway, Monica Shukla arrived in Katni on Thursday and conducted the probe into the incident, sources said.

Security in the town was beefed up in view of Congress leaders’ visit, said a police official.

The video shared by the state Congress on X showed a woman in civil dress — in-charge of the GRP station — beating up a woman and a boy in a room. Later, some other personnel in uniform were seen joining her in thrashing the duo.

“Chief Minister Mohan Yadavji, will you tell us what is happening in Madhya Pradesh? Under the pretext of maintaining law and order, your police department is indulging in hooliganism and is hell-bent on taking the lives of people,” the opposition party said in the post on X.

“The cruelty with which the Katni Government Railway Police (GRP) station in-charge beat up the 15-year-old boy and his grandmother from a Dalit family is agonising. From where did they get so much courage to do so? Is it due to your negligence? Have you given them permission to indulge in such acts?” the Congress said, terming the incident as “shameful”. (PTI)