Cancer patient alleges assault by Noida cops, society guards; court orders FIR

Four police personnel and four private security guards of a group housing society in Greater Noida have been booked for allegedly assaulting and holding hostage a cancer patient, officials said on Tuesday.

The FIR has been lodged on orders of a local court under CrPC section 156(3), where a magistrate is empowered to take cognizance of an offence and order an investigation.

“Gautam Buddh Nagar Police Commissioner Laxmi Singh has ordered a departmental inquiry into the whole episode,” a police spokesperson said.

According to police, the incident took place outside Gaur Atulyam Society around 11 pm on February 21 this year and action was taken against the complainant and his friend for creating a nuisance in an inebriated condition.

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Complainant Shashank Singh (33) said the incident took place near Gaur Atulyam Society around 11 pm on February 21 this year when he was waiting for his friend Chetan Sharma.

“I was waiting for my friend in my car outside the society when the society's security manager suddenly came there along with some guards and started knocking at the window, prompting me to open the car's door,” Singh claimed.

“My car was parked on the side of the road and they all demanded that I remove it from there but I resisted saying it was not a no-parking area. The guards then forcefully took away the car of my key and hurled expletives at me,” he alleged.

Singh, who works in a private company and claims to be suffering from blood cancer, further said that the guards soon called up the local police to the spot while he dialled emergency number 112 but did not get any response.

He alleged that police reached the spot and colluded with the security guards to beat him up instead.

“My friend and I were forcefully made to sit in the police gipsy despite us claiming no wrongdoing. First, they took us to Ajaypur police outpost and then to the Dadri police station where they assaulted us with wooden planks besides punching and kicking us,” Singh claimed.

He alleged that he was not allowed to take medicine for his cancer treatment and the assault inside the police station resulted in the rupturing of an eardrum.

However, the police on Tuesday claimed that the duo was engaged in creating a nuisance after consuming alcohol on the night of February 21.

“On information from the society's security manager about nuisance by the duo, the police official in-charge of the local Ajaybpur outpost reached the spot with his team where they tried to pacify the plaintiff who was in an inebriated condition. When police tried to pacify him but to no avail, a medical examination of the plaintiff was done, in which the consumption of alcohol was confirmed,” the police said in a statement.

The police said the action was taken under CrPC section 151 (arrest to prevent a cognizable offence without order from magistrate or a warrant).

“Prima facie, the case appears to be suspicious and an FIR has been lodged in compliance with the court's order against four private security guards of Gaur Atulyam society, including their manager Mohit Kumar, and four police officials, including the then local outpost in-charge Anoop Dixit,” according to the statement.

The FIR has been lodged under the Indian Penal Code sections 323 (assault), 342 (illegal confinement) and 504 (intentional provocation to breach public peace), and investigations in the case are underway, police added.