A police inspector and five constables of the Government Railway Police (GRP) in Madhya Pradesh’s Katni city have been suspended after a video allegedly showing them assaulting a 55-year-old Dalit woman and her 15-year-old grandson in police custody surfaced on social media.
In a complaint filed Tuesday, 55-year-old Kusum Vanshkar said that on October 29 last year, she and her 15-year-old grandson were taken to Katni GRP police station in connection with an inquiry into her older son Deepak (35), a suspect in a theft case.
“On the pretext of questioning, inspector Aruna Vahane shut the door of her room and started pulling my hair and dragged me by my hair and assaulted me with a wooden stick, and kicked me and mercilessly assaulted me between 6 pm to 7 pm,” she alleged in the complaint.
The complaint also alleged that four police constables “caught hold of my grandson and hit him on his legs several times with a wooden stick”.
The incident had purportedly been captured on a CCTV camera inside the police station, and the clip went viral on social media recently.
The video prompted Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav to issue a public statement Thursday evening promising action against the police personnel involved.
“An old video of assault by officers/employees of GRP Katni police station is going viral on social media. When it came to my notice, immediately this morning, instructions were given to send DIG Rail to the spot for investigation. According to preliminary investigation, orders have been given to suspend the then police station in-charge GRP Katni, along with a head constable and four constables with immediate effect. Also, senior police officers have been directed to ensure that such misconduct is not repeated in future,” Yadav wrote in a post on X.
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Later in the day, the six police personnel were suspended.
They were identified as inspector Aruna Vahane, head constable Ajay Shrivastav, and constables Shoaib Abbasi, Salman Khan, Omkar Sirsam, and Varsha Dubey.
Jayprakash S Naidu is a Principal Correspondent for The Indian Express, currently serving as the state correspondent for Chhattisgarh. With an extensive career in frontline journalism, he reports on the political, security, and humanitarian landscape of Central India.
Expertise and Experience
Specialized Conflict Reporting: Jayprakash is a leading voice on the Maoist/Naxalite conflict in the Bastar region. His reporting provides a critical, ground-level view of:
Internal Security: Tracking high-stakes encounters, surrender programs for senior Maoist leaders, and the establishment of security camps in formerly inaccessible "heartland" villages.
Tribal Rights & Displacement: Investigative reporting on the identity and land struggles of thousands of displaced tribals fleeing conflict zones for neighboring states.
Governance & Bureaucratic Analysis: He consistently monitors the evolution of Chhattisgarh as it marks 25 years of statehood, covering:
Electoral Politics: Analyzing the shift in power between the BJP and Congress and the impact of regional tribal movements.
Public Policy: Reporting on landmark infrastructure projects (e.g., mobile connectivity in remote zones) and judicial interventions, such as High Court rulings on civil and family law.
Diverse Investigative Background: Prior to his current focus on Chhattisgarh, Jayprakash held reported from Maharashtra, where he specialized in:
Crisis & Disaster Management: Notable for his extensive coverage of the Cyclone Tauktae barge tragedy (P-305) and the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on frontline personnel.
Legal & Human Rights: Investigative pieces for platforms like Article-14, focusing on police accountability and custodial deaths across India.
Environmental & Social Justice: Authoritative reporting on the Hasdeo Aranya forest protests and the approval of major tiger reserves, highlighting the tension between industrial mining and environmental preservation. ... Read More
