A former junior vice president of the Lawyers Bar Association, Braj Kumar Nishad, was arrested by the Kanpur police on Friday night after he allegedly kidnapped and assaulted a youth who was seen with his daughter.
However, Nishad’s arrest led to a major uproar when the news of his arrest spread and a large group of lawyers gathered to protest outside the Police Commissioner’s office.
The protesting lawyers alleged that the young man named Aryan, a medical student from Sakshi College in Bithoor and a resident of Kanpur Dehat, had been harassing Nishad's daughter for several days.
On Friday night, Nishad's family reportedly caught Aryan in the act and beat him up. Nishad then called Aryan's father to come and take his son away.
However, the police intervened, taking Nishad and his wife into custody and registering a case of kidnapping and assault against Nishad. The other party claims that Aryan was kidnapped and beaten by Nishad’s family, prompting them to seek police assistance.
A purported video of the incident has surfaced on social media, showing Aryan being badly beaten and tied to a chair. In the video, which is now going viral on social media, Aryan appears shell-shocked and answers questions asked by the police present at the scene. Aryan narrates that he had come to meet one of his friends when he was picked up by men who arrived on bikes and in a car. In the video, a policeman asks a person to appear in front of the camera and explain why Aryan was brought there and what he did. Tejnarayan states that Aryan was seen drinking cold drinks with his daughter. Later in the video, Aryan alleges that he was badly beaten before being taken there and tied up.
Staging a sit-in outside the Police Commissioner’s office, the lawyers allege that the police have colluded with Aryan’s family and unjustly arrested Nishad.
They are demanding action against the ACP, Inspector Bithoor, and the outpost in charge. Despite attempts by DCP East Shravan Kumar to defuse the situation through dialogue, the protests continued, with lawyers threatening to escalate their demonstration to a hunger strike if their demands were not met.
As it stands, the police have deployed a substantial force to maintain order and security as the lawyers' protest shows no signs of abating.
