In a shocking incident, two cops from Uttar Pradesh falsely implicated 10 people at dhaba in Etah district after they were asked to pay their bill. The cops allegedly framed and arrested the dhaba owner and nine others after a fake encounter. They also claimed to have recovered illicit liquor and cannabis from the dhaba owner and the customers. The police officials have been suspended after the intervention of senior police officials from their department.
The action against the UP police officials comes over 40 days after the incident. The police department ordered an inquiry after they got to know about their colleagues' actions.
"Serious allegations were made against the then in-charge of the Kotwali Dehat Police Station. I asked the SP (Crime) of Etah to inquire and, prima facia, the allegations are being proved," Rajeev Krishna, an Additional DGP-rank officer in charge of the zone for Etah Police, said in his byte posted on the Twitter handle of Etah police.
He said he has also ordered the suspension of the involved personnel and anyone from the police found involved will be booked. The inquiry has been shifted out of Etah to Aligarh to ensure fairness, he added.
The incident took place after the dhaba owner reportedly asked two policemen from their 'thana', who were apparently eating at his restaurant, to pay for the food they had.
The dhaba owner and the other customers who intervened on behalf of him were "arrested" on February 4.
The police press note released that day said that the men present at dhaba were trying smuggle alcohol and drugs and were arrested after an "encounter" that night. Six country-made revolvers, 12 live cartridges, two kg of ganja and 80 litres of illicit liquor were recovered from the men.
(Also Read: Asked To Pay, UP Cops Frame Dhaba Owner, 9 Others In 'Fake Encounter')
However, the dhaba owner's brother had a very different version of the incident.
"On February 4, at 2 pm, some policemen were eating food at my dhaba. My brother was there... I was at home. These cops had an argument with my brother over paying for the food. They were regulars (but) never paid for their food. Sometimes they used to pay ₹ 100 when they had, in fact, eaten food worth four times that amount," Praveen Kumar, the brother, told media persons.
"These people were drunk... they beat up my brother, and abused and threated him. They went away saying there would be retaliation. Later two police jeeps came to my dhaba and took everyone, including my brother and customers who intervened on his behalf, to the police station. They foisted cases... saying illicit liquor had been recovered from my brother," he added.