Meerut: Two days after alleged police high-handedness on protesting members of the Dalit community over a case involving the killing of a college student — Lalita Gautam, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday sought a detailed action-taken report from the UP DGP and the home secretary within 15 days. Police action also kicked up a political storm, evoking response from Opposition parties, prompting cops to turn Meerut into a fortress as a “precautionary step” and “sealing off” the student’s village.
In the letter, accessed by TOI, NHRC bench has asked the UP top brass to furnish a report in reply to allegations by complainant Sunil Ahirwar of Jan Kalyan Samiti that, “police (Meerut) unleashed an unprovoked, brutal baton-charge inflicting severe injuries on many protesters.”
The letter added that, “there is also video evidence that clearly depicts senior police officers committing custodial torture by mercilessly beating defenceless individuals while they were already in custody.” Ahirwar of Bhopal filed the complaint under section 12 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.
On Thursday, police registered a case against 63 protesters under stringent BNS sections of “attempt to murder” and “assault on women with an intention to outrage modesty” for the alleged assault on female police personnel. Seven of them were later arrested.
The thrashing of a Noida-based lawyer — Ravi Gautam — inside a police van on Wednesday also did not go down well within the advocate fraternity. Angry lawyers from the Meerut Bar Association submitted a memorandum at the Collectorate.
Meanwhile, SSP Avinash Pandey issued a fresh statement: “Our Constitution starts with — We the People of India. It does not start with caste, creed or any community. Whatever action was taken, it was against criminals and we have justification of all the actions along with the proof.”
Reacting to an alleged audio threat, SSP Pandey appealed to all his “supporters and opposers to plant trees in the forthcoming ‘Vriksharopan Mahotsav’ (plantation drive)… They must use their anger and energy on the betterment of the environment and society.”
From early Friday, heavy police force was deployed at the city’s Commissionary Park, the protest venue. It was personally supervised by SSP Pandey.
The district’s borders were sealed and the political leaders, including MP from Nagina Lok Sabha constituency, Chandrashekhar Azad, were stopped at the outskirts along with hundreds of his supporters. Addressing the public, Azad said, “If the Constitution has given the citizens the right to protest, then which are the sections under which the peaceful agitators were attacked, I want to know. I have come to Meerut to get the answer and also to meet the victim’s family.”
Poonam Pandit, a Congress functionary, was allegedly detained at her house in Bulandshahr in the early hours of Friday. She was scheduled to meet the student’s family. She asked: “Is it a crime to meet the aggrieved family, to share their grief? The best answer to why I have been put under house arrest lies with the state govt.”
Notably, people from the community, including various outfits, had joined Lalita’s parents in regular protests against the “shoddy probe” by local police after the body of the 20-year-old BA final-year student from Meerut was found in a sugarcane field. The Dalit student went missing on May 15, 2026, after leaving her home for an exam.
Police arrested her alleged boyfriend, Ankush Kumar, claiming he killed her following an argument. However, her family questioned the police investigation, demanding a fair and comprehensive probe into the case.
Courtesy : TOI
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