While journalists are being arrested on charges of “defaming” Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a group of policemen ruthlessly punched, slapped, and imprisoned one of the journalists, who claims in a video that a policeman stripped him naked and urinated in his mouth while he was behind bars.

The journalist, identified as Amit Sharma, was on duty covering the derailment of a train in Shamli district when the policemen showed up and started physically assaulting him. “They were in plain clothes. One hit my camera and it fell down. When I picked it up, they hit and abused me. I was locked up, stripped and they urinated in my mouth,” Amit Sharma said. A few local journalists showed up at the spot and started protests after Amit was locked up. They also recorded the incident and informed the senior officials regarding it. In another video, Amit Sharma explains how he had done a story on the policemen 10 - 15 days ago, and that the mobile phone they had snatched from him had the video of the same.

Following the incident, the officials involved in the abuse of the journalist were suspended. “We have come across a video where a journalist has been beaten up & put up in a lock up. DGP UP OP Singh has ordered for immediate suspension of SHO GRP Shamli Rakesh Kumar & Const. Sanjay Pawar,” Uttar Pradesh police tweeted.
 

We have come across a video where a journalist has been beaten up & put up in a lock up. DGP UP OP Singh has ordered for immediate suspension of SHO GRP Shamli Rakesh Kumar & Const. Sanjay Pawar.
Strict punishment shall be accorded to policemen misbehaving with citizens.

— UP POLICE (@Uppolice) June 12, 2019

#WATCH Shamli: GRP personnel thrash a journalist who was covering the goods train derailment near Dhimanpura tonight. He says, "They were in plain clothes. One hit my camera&it fell down. When I picked it up they hit&abused me. I was locked up, stripped&they urinated in my mouth" pic.twitter.com/nS4hiyFF1G

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 11, 2019