Mumbai: Cops assault duo taking sick man to hospital in Colaba

Jainath Dhanu at St George Hospital

All he had on his mind was rushing his ill brother to hospital, for which he rode three up on a bike out of desperation. But, that landed him in trouble, and later, in hospital, too. The Colaba resident was allegedly stopped by traffic policemen on the intervening night of September 23 and 24 and assaulted along with his ailing brother.

He has also alleged the assault has affected his hearing. The incident happened on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday when Jagannath Dhanu, 31, a local cable operator, was riding a bike with his brother Jainath, 29, sitting behind him and a friend behind Jainath to ensure he didn't fall off the two-wheeler. The trio was headed to St George Hospital around 1 am.

Jagannath said Jainath had fever, and when his condition worsened late in the night, he decided to take him to hospital. "As it was very late in the night, there were no taxis around. Hence, we had to go on a bike. I asked my friend to accompany because Jainath couldn't sit straight or keep his balance," he added.

Jainath Dhanu

"En route, we encountered a few policemen; one of them stopped us and slapped me, saying the bike's mirror had hit him, and that we were riding three up at 80 kmph." mid-day has in its possession three videos of the incident taken by the trio, apart from Jainath's medical records as well as documents showing Jagannath having to seek medical help after the alleged assault.

One video shows heated arguments between the victim and the cops, while another shows a scuffle inside the police station. Jagannath said all allegations levelled by the police are false, and that it was, in fact, he and his brother who were beaten up severely, because of which he (Jagannath) has developed a hearing problem.

Jagannath added that ultimately senior inspector Vijay Dopavkar came to the police station and instructed his men to take Jainath to hospital, where his temperature was found to be 101 degrees Celsius. Jagannath and his friend were let off after the two called up the former's father, who explained the situation to the police and requested them to let the duo go.

Policespeak
While Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone I) Abhishekh Trimukhe said he will have to verify what happened before commenting, Dopavkar said they were inquiring into the matter.

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