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Police Garland Thief With Shoes, Parade Him In Jammu; Probe Ordered After Social Media Flak
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The incident has waded a team of Jammu Police into controversy after the video of the overzealous action was widely circulated on social media platforms.
In a shocking and bizarre incident, a suspected thief, linked to a busted gang, was publicly humiliated with a garland of shoes and was paraded across Jammu after he was made to sit on a moving police vehicle's bonnet.
The incident has waded a team of Jammu Police into controversy after the video of the overzealous action was widely circulated on social media platforms, prompting an official inquiry.
The video of the incident purportedly showed the man – stripped to the waist — being handcuffed by police officers, placed on the bonnet of a police jeep and then driven around the streets of Jammu city with several onlookers cheering the act.
The video, which surfaced online had sparked a debate among social media users, with many questioning the legality and ethics of the police action and some even terming it 'jungle raj".
The accused is identified as a resident of Kashmir and was allegedly under the influence of drugs when he was arrested following a chase and a scuffle near a hospital in the city. The man was apparently caught for theft – stealing money while buying medicines.
According to Bakshi Nagar Police Station SHO Azad Manhas, whose team was involved in the incident, a man who was robbed of Rs 40,000 while buying medicines for his patient a couple of days ago, identified the accused outside a hospital in the heart of the city and confronted him.
The accused retaliated by attacking the man with a knife, causing injuries, and tried to escape, the SHO said, adding that the police personnel patrolling the area went after the accused and nabbed him.
Local youths also joined the chase, and once the accused was caught, they reportedly tied his hands with a rope and placed a garland of footwear around his neck.
He was then paraded through the streets and made to sit on the bonnet of the police vehicle for a short while, with a public address system announcing his arrest as he was taken to the police station.
Condemning the incident, Jammu's Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Joginder Singh ordered a departmental inquiry into the matter.
Singh said the action of the police personnel was 'unprofessional, unbecoming of the members of a disciplined organisation", and called for a stern departmental action.
'In order to ascertain actual facts, a preliminary enquiry is hereby ordered and entrusted to SDPO (Sub-divisional police officer) City North, Jammu, who will enquire into the matter and submit his findings to this office within a week's time positively," the SSP said in an order as reported by the news agency.
Some netizens tagged Jammu and Kashmir Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, DGP Nalin Prabhat and the National Human Rights Commission, demanding accountability.
One of the social media users said the incident was a "shocking violation of human rights and due process," and emphasised that "law enforcers must not become lawbreakers."
Another user called out the Jammu police, saying, "This is not justice, this is a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution. How can @JmuKmrPolice allow such lawlessness? Where is accountability?"
A user questioned the police's justification for "such inhuman treatment," asking, "tying a half-naked man to a bonnet, parading him like a trophy—is this justice or jungle raj? Even the worst criminal deserves dignity under law. This is not policing, it's public humiliation."
This marks the second such incident in Jammu this month, following a similar event on June 11, where three criminals involved in a shooting were publicly beaten by police.
(With inputs from PTI)
