Maratha protest: Constable humiliated during protests talks of his ordeal

After the photo of the footprint on his back went viral (left), mid-day reached out to constable Satish Modak for his side of the story

Constable Satish Modak was among thousands of cops who had our backs during the Maratha protests, protecting people after the agitation turned violent. But now, he's become the butt of WhatsApp jokes, thanks to a viral picture of a muddy footprint on his back, where one of the protesters kicked him. The picture has left the entire police force shaken, especially Modak.

Across the state, it was the police who bore the brunt of the Marathas' resentment. Several cops got injured as protesters pelted stones and thrashed them. In constable Modak's town alone, five policemen got hurt. "My grandfather and father were both in force. My father died while he was on duty at the same spot where we were attacked. I joined the police to carry on the tradition. But seeing that muddy footprint on my uniform hurt me. I washed the stain before going home, as I didn't wanted my family to feel the same pain," he said.

Modak, 37, is a resident of Balapur and attached with the state police's Striking Force in Hingoli. "On July 24, a team of 10 constables was sent to Dongarkada Phata on the Nanded-Akola highway," he said.

Protesters turn hostile
At 10 am, protesters from Sakal Maratha Samaj came with Shiv Sainiks to Chinchwadi Pati, just a few metres from Dongarkada Phata police chowky. They held up traffic for close to an hour, shouting slogans and burning tyres. They left soon after, having submitting a memorandum of their demands to the cops. "But around 3 pm, they came back and started a rasta roko. They burned more tyres and stalled traffic," said Bhagwan Wadkile, a constable at Akhada-Balapur police station. The morcha worsened after protesters started deflating tyres of private vehicles and throwing rocks at cops. When an assistant inspector got injured, Modak's team was pushed into action.

A streak of pain
Modak recalled, "We started dispersing the crowd, but they were pelting stones at us too. Then, one officer was surrounded by them. I went with a constable to rescue him, and that's when I felt the blow on my back."

"A streak of pain ran from my back across my body, but I didn't have any time to turn around and see who had kicked me. We took the officer to a safe spot, while another team came to control the crowd," Modak said. The mob had started to burn trucks. "The crowd was so violent that we couldn't do much. When one of the officers beat a protester, others surrounded us. After that, we were told not to lathi-charge the mob, as it would worsen matters," said Modak.

Needless humiliation
Eventually, the protesters went away, and the cops started clearing traffic. Umakant Chincholkar, assistant inspector from Akhada-Balapur police station, said, "When a private car stopped near us, Modak went ahead to see what was the matter. That's when I saw the footprint on his back. I felt really sorry for him. We didn't have any enmity with the protesters, and this kind of humiliation was shocking. I clicked a picture and showed it to Modak. He felt bad too."

Constable Modak still doesn't understand why anyone would humiliate a cop who had done nothing to harm them. "From what I have seen in my 12 years on the force, people have so much anger over different issues, but cops are always at the receiving end," he said. The Akhada-Balapur cops have registered a rioting case against 50 protesters under 13 sections of the IPC, the Public Property Damage Act and Maharashtra Police Act.

5
Total number of policemen injured in the clash

12
Number of years Modak has been on the force

Also read: Mumbai Bandh: Man injured in protests dies

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