Lucknow: A young resident of Musran village in Hathras has alleged that he was subjected to brutal beatings by the Hathras sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) and tehsildar after he filed a complaint against illegal sand mining during a Janata Darshan programme on Friday.
After Nakul Chaudhry, 22, posted a video on social media on Sunday evening, which purportedly shows injury marks on his body following the alleged beating by SDM Ravendra Kumar, Hathras district magistrate Archana Verma announced an investigation into the matter. Hathras SP Nipun Agrawal, while confirming that police had received a complaint by Nakul’s father Ravindra Kumar, assured swift action.
In the video which Nakul released, he recounted the “harrowing incident”, describing how he was “forcibly taken to an isolated location in the SDM’s car, tied to a pillar, and mercilessly thrashed by Kumar and tehsildar Chandrapal Singh”. Kumar vehemently denied the allegations, dismissing Nakul as a “baseless accuser with a criminal background”.
Nakul said, “I had reported rampant illegal mining to the SDM on Friday. Around midnight, I was summoned to an isolated spot, where I was shoved into the SDM’s car and taken to a cold storage facility under the jurisdiction of Chandpa police station. The SDM, the tehsildar, two home guards and the driver tied me to a pillar and thrashed me. They kept saying that no illegal mining was taking place in the area. They also seized my phone and warned me against pursuing the matter further.”
