Vasai chowkie assault: Pressure mounts on cops

Chitra Wagh with some of the assaulted tribal women. Pics/Hanif Patel

The Tamil film Jai Bhim-like episode that played out in Vasai last week has started getting wider attention following mid-day's reports. On Friday, a senior leader from an opposition party met the six tribal women, who were allegedly brutally thrashed by a cop. Scores of tribal women had protested outside the Vasai police station on Thursday, demanding strict action against the policeman, API Vinod Wagh.

After the meet, the state BJP vice president Chitra Wagh asked the police to record the supplementary statements of all the six women who were allegedly caned mercilessly by API Wagh at Papdi police chowkie on suspicion of them being pickpockets.

Chitra Wagh, vice president of BJP, Maharashtra

"It is a very sad affair as the tribal women have come to Vasai to earn their livelihood from their village in Kasa. They all are completely frightened after they were assaulted by API Vinod Wagh for no reason. I met these women today. They have told me that after the assault, when they walked out of the Papdi police chowkie, they were helped by a traffic police officer who got them an autorickshaw to send them to a hospital," Chitra Wagh told mid-day.

"The medical report also says that these women were baton-charged. Now, the police have to say that they recorded the statement of the vegetable vendors who told the police in their statement that no one was caned at the police chowkie," she said.

Four of the assaulted tribal women in Vasai on Friday. Pic/Hanif Patel

The BJP leader said API Wagh bundled the tribal women into an autorickshaw and brought them to police chowkie. "He dragged them and bolted the door from inside at the one-room chowkie. Where are the vegetable vendors or complainant in the frame of this entire episode?" she wondered.

"I believe that the vegetable vendors have been forced to give false statements as they have to run their business at the mercy of the police. API Wagh has also apologised to the tribal women. It proves that he has committed the offence and admitted his own mistake," she added.

Chitra Wagh also met the zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Kumar Patil and asked him to record the supplementary statement of tribal women.

"I have told the DCP to record supplementary statements of victims so that the minute details of the incident can come on record. These pieces of information will be very much essential for the registration of an FIR," she said.

Invoking the anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, the BJP leader said, "Today is a very important day for Maharashtra and we are blessed to have senior officer Sadanand Date as the commissioner of Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar. He played a very active role in 26/11 Mumbai attacks and we expect fair investigation into the matter."

"The incident has maligned the image of khaki, so this must be cleaned with immediate effect. I see this incident as a state level as there are many police chowkie where the women officers have not been deployed. So, I will definitely expect the state government to ensure that women officers are deployed at each police chowkie," she added.

A senior police officer told mid-day that the statement of the traffic police officer, who helped the tribal women getting an autorickshaw to reach hospital, will be recorded.

"We are piecing together the evidence related to the alleged incident before submitting our inquiry report to senior officers," said an officer privy to the ongoing departmental probe.