The accused cop had not reported the incident to the railway police nor a case of ticketless travel was registered. The victim was neither referred to a medical test to ascertain whether he was drunk.
KOZHIKODE: In another instance of police highhandedness in Kerala, an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of Kannur railway police brutally kicked and thrashed a passenger in the train, alleging the latter was drunk and without a ticket.
The incident happened in the second class sleeper coach of Mangalore Central-Thiruvananthapuram Central Maveli Express (16603) on Sunday night, between Kannur and Vadakara stations. The video of the cop brutally kicking a hapless passenger with his boot was caught in the mobile camera by another passenger. The Kannur city police commissioner R Ilango has assigned a special branch ACP to probe the incident.
According to the passenger who shot the visuals, the victim not causing a nuisance to anyone. “The ASI and another cop came and asked for the ticket from the passenger. When he was searching for the ticket, the cop started kicking him. He was brutally kicked on his chest and beaten up. The passenger was on the floor. I shot the video from the upper birth as the police harassment continued. Later, the Train Ticket Examiner (TTE) also joined. The police have no power to ask for the ticket but TTE. When the ASI saw me taking visuals, he asked me to show my ticket to which I replied that I would show the ticket to TTE only,” told the passenger to media. It is learned that the harassed passenger was finally made to get down at Vadakara.
On the other hand, the accused ASI responded that he didn’t kick the passenger but made him get down the train for travelling without a ticket. However, the cop had not reported the incident to the railway police nor a case of ticketless travel was registered. No fine was charged and the victim was neither referred to a medical test to ascertain whether he was drunk or not. The identity of the victimised passenger is yet to be known.