Medical students hurt in lathicharge refute police claims that they were marching to Raj Bhavan.
MUMBAI: Students at the receiving end of the police lathicharge outside the governor's bungalow in Walkeshwar on Saturday have refuted police claims that they were trying to enter the governor's residence.
Umesh Dubey, a final-year student of GS medical college and an intern in KEM hospital, who ended up with a fractured foot and a broken arm, said, “We did not even know which the main entrance was. So the question of trying to enter the governor's bungalow does not arise. A police van arrived and policemen with lathis surrounded us. We formed a chain and held each other, but they dragged us apart and started hitting us,” the 23-year-old said.
Police Commissioner AN Roy, However, denied that there was any lathi charge on the protesters. Dubey said the first lathi hit him on the hand. “I tried running away, but they followed me, hitting me all the time. They then dragged me into the police van and splashed alcohol on my face.”
According to an intern in Parel's KEM hospital, who took part in the protest, the lathi charge resulted in at least 18 cases of fracture out of which four were being treated at KEM.
The injured include Vishal Raj, a 22-year-old medico, who is in the intensive care unit of KEM with a fractured leg and injuries on the hands and legs.
Another victim of the police action, 21-year-old Milind Baldi, was left with a fractured hand. He said, "Without warning the police started hitting us. Two cops held my hands and separated me from the group. One of them dragged me towards the police van. They beat me continuously and even trampled on my stethoscope."
Baldi added that a female intern from Sion medical college was hit on the face by a lathi. The police also refused to let media personnel enter the police station on Saturday evening.
Students injured in Saturday's police action and their colleagues are also drawing support from medical and engineering colleges around the country.
They will now take part in a protest organised by the Indian Medical Association at Azad Maidan on Monday, in which they will march to Mantralaya. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone II) Pratap Dighawkar, under whose jurisdiction the Malabar Hill police station falls, said, “I was not present at the spot (but), the report filed by the senior police inspector of Malabar Hill police station said the police had requested the students to disperse. It's only when they started marching towards the gates of Raj Bhavan that the police resorted to this (caning).”
Police Commissioner AN Roy said, “The students staged a rasta roko and tried to break into Raj Bhawan. When they were asked to moved they lied down on the ground and refused to move. About 2-4 police personnel had to move each student. In the ensuing commotion some students were hurt.”
Students speak out
Alcohol was splashed on the faces of the students in the police van.
Female interns were slapped by male constables. Female constables, despite being inside the Malabar Hill police station, were not present when the female interns were detained.
Police asked students whether they were Brahmins.
A policeman, who freed a student on Saturday evening, said some police personnel involved in the lathicharge belonged to the Other Backward Castes and used the opportunity to vent their ire.
Detained handful of youngsters overnight and asked them to admit that they were leading the protest outside Raj Bhavan.
No copy of charges was given to any student but they were made to sign on arrest forms and bail bonds.
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