Punjab: Kotfatta SHO transferred to police lines after vlogger alleges intimidation
Kotfatta station house officer (SHO) Manish Kumar was transferred to the police lines on Tuesday for allegedly intimidating Lakhvir Singh Sidhu, a vlogger from Bhai Bhaktaur village.
The disciplinary action against the SHO, an inspector-rank officer, came after Sidhu posted a video last night, accusing Kumar of threatening to implicate him in fabricated cases.
Bathinda senior superintendent of police (SSP) Amneet Kondal did not respond to queries on whether the vlogger had shared any audio or video evidence to buttress his claims of police harassment.
On Sunday, Sidhu had posted a video on his Facebook page with a poster in the backdrop that read 'village on sale' and claimed that the residents wanted to leave the village as they were intimidated by drug traffickers.
The vlogger cited the example of an ex-serviceman, Ranvir Singh, who was allegedly assaulted by drug traders, leaving him with fractures in his legs.
Following the incident, the Kotfatta police had arrested two accused on Sunday, which HT had reported in these columns.
After their arrest, vlogger Sidhu posted a video lauding SHO Kumar and superintendent of police Heena Gupta for nabbing the accused within 24 hours. A day later, however, Sidhu posted another video, alleging gross misconduct by the SHO.
The vlogger claimed that the SHO was objecting to his video that residents of Bhai Bakhtaur village want to put their village on sale due to intimidation by drug traffickers.
But around midnight on Monday, Bathinda police authorities shared a 1.23-minute video where the vlogger was purportedly heard saying that he was satisfied with the assurance of SSP Kondal about complete support from the district police.
The issue picked up steam again on Tuesday when Congress legislator Pargat Singh visited Bathinda and demanded action against the SHO.
In a video statement issued on Tuesday, SSP Kondal said she visited the victim, Ranvir Singh, at a private hospital in Bathinda and told him about the arrest of the main accused under attempt-to-murder and wrongful restraint charges.
She said after the recovery of an illicit weapon from the accused during police remand, sections of the Arms Act were also invoked.
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