Meerut, Aug 21 (IANS) Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) B.R. Ambedkar faction president, Digvijay Bhatti, on Friday has levelled serious allegations of third-degree torture against outgoing Meerut Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Avinash Pandey, claiming that he was detained and mercilessly beaten inside the police office. The Meerut Police, however, has strongly denied the allegations.
Speaking to IANS, Bhatti alleged that he and others were falsely implicated in connection with a protest over the Lalita Gautam case, despite not being present at the demonstration.
“When the protest took place regarding the Lalita Gautam case, we were not present at that protest; we were in Noida-Ghaziabad. Despite that, we were sent to jail,” Bhatti said.
He alleged that he later met the SSP along with Mohit to plead their innocence and request that their names be removed from the FIR.
“Later, Mohit was speaking to Kaptaan Sahab, saying, ‘Sir, we are completely innocent in this matter.’ Then they took us into a cabin. There is a side cabin with sofas there. After taking us inside, they hit us with elbows and beat us mercilessly. There were three or four of them,” Bhatti alleged.
Bhatti further claimed that he was injured in his eye during the alleged assault.
“As I was falling at the SSP’s feet, he kicked me. That kick struck me directly in my eye. The doctors are now saying that only 30 per cent of my eyesight can be treated,” he alleged.
“My voice is like this because I was screaming in pain. He and his colleagues beat me using third-degree torture. They were abusing me and beating me,” Bhatti told IANS.
Claiming that he had committed no wrongdoing, Bhatti said, “Mera koi dosh nahi hai (I am innocent). I have not done anything. I have completed BBA, MBA, MPhil and PhD, but they treated me like a ‘gunda’.”
The allegations surfaced after a video of Bhatti, president of the B.R. Ambedkar faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, circulated widely on social media. In the video, Bhatti is purportedly seen showing a swollen left eye and bruises on various parts of his body.
Bhatti claimed that he had met Pandey on Wednesday, seeking the removal of his name from the FIR, as he was not present at the location where the alleged incident had taken place.
The alleged incident is linked to police action on July 8 against Dalit protesters demonstrating over what they described as a shoddy investigation into the murder of college student Lalita Gautam, whose body was found on May 15 in a field in Meerut’s Rohta area.
Public outrage over the murder escalated on July 8 when demonstrators, according to police, blocked the Meerut Collectorate gate for nearly three hours. They were demanding a meeting with the district administration and the immediate arrest of the main accused, Ankit, whom they held responsible for the murder.
The protest later turned violent after police, led by SSP Pandey, resorted to a baton charge. Police subsequently booked 63 protesters — 13 named and 50 unidentified — under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 109, which deals with attempt to murder. Bhatti was among those named as accused.
Meanwhile, the Meerut Police has refuted all the allegations levelled by Bhatti. In an official statement posted on X, the police said that several cases had already been registered against Digvijay Singh Bhatti and Mohit Jatav and that both were history-sheeters of their respective police stations.
According to the police, on August 19, 2026, the two men came to the Civil Lines police station to discuss matters related to cases registered against them. While returning home, they allegedly fell and sustained injuries after their scooter skidded.
The police further said that Digvijay Singh and Mohit Jatav themselves submitted a written application at the Civil Lines police station regarding the incident, which was recorded in General Diary Entry No. 53 at 5:31 p.m.
–IANS
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