Garlanded with shoes, thief paraded on bonnet of Jammu police vehicle
The Jammu police went a step ahead in moral policing when they made a thief sit on the bonnet of a vehicle with a garland of shoes around his neck and paraded him on busy streets of the city.
The incident took place when a thief was caught red-handed by locals in Bakshi Nagar area allegedly stealing Rs 40,000 from a man. After he was chased by the victim and bystanders, the thief allegedly used a knife to injure the man from whom he allegedly stolen the money.
A team led by Station House Officer (SHO) of Bakshi Nagar police station Azad Manhas was on patrol duty when the thief was caught.
“When we reached the spot, the public had already beaten up the thief and tore his shirt. A large crowd of bystanders attempted to snatch the thief from us and wanted to kill him. As a precautionary measure to safeguard the life of the thief, I told them that we will make him sit on the bonnet of our police vehicle after which the public was pacified,” Manhas told The Tribune.
He said locals put a garland of footwear around his neck. “As soon as we paraded him for few metres, he was brought down and made to sit at the back and taken to hospital where a check-up was conducted along with other medical tests,” said the SHO.
The thief is a resident of Kashmir. He was allegedly under the influence of drugs when he was caught by the public, said the SHO. The police informed that he is a part of a bigger gang. “The gang steals money and other valuables from locals and escapes to Kashmir for days. We will question him to get information about other members of his gang,” said Azad Manhas.
Some social activists from Kashmir said that the incident was a kind of “medieval vigilantism”. Nasir Khuehami, national convener of J&K Students Association in a post on X said, “Instead of following standard procedure and placing him inside the police van, the officers chose to parade him in full public display.”
Joginder Singh, SSP, Jammu, ordered an inquiry into the incident. A statement by the police read, “Taking serious note of this, an inquiry has been ordered. It has been entrusted to SDPO City North, Jammu. He will submit his findings within a week. Jammu police firmly believes in upholding the rule of law and, at the same time, any non-professional tendency/approach on part of any officer/official will not encouraged and desired departmental/legal action will be taken against such delinquent members.”
This was the third-such incident in recent times where the accused in different crimes were paraded on the road. Two youths who had snatched a gold chain from a woman after assaulting her were paraded barefoot in Janipur area of Jammu last week.
On June 11, a group of criminals who were involved in shooting in Gangyal area were beaten up by the police in full public view and paraded when they allegedly threatened the locals not to give a statement against them.
J & K