NC leader Sameer Kaul alleges manhandling by policemen in Srinagar

Srinagar: National Conference (NC) leader Dr Sameer Kaul on Tuesday alleged that he was manhandled by traffic policemen here, following which he lodged a complaint.

Kaul, a noted cancer specialist, said the incident took place on the Boulevard Road while he was on his way from his residence in the Nishat area in the outskirts of the city here towards the airport.

"It is really unfortunate what happened. I have never seen this power drunkenness that I have seen on the roads today," Kaul said.

A police officer said the facts are being ascertained and further details will be shared later.

The doctor said while he was on his way to the airport, the traffic was stopped because the cavalcade of the Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor was to go through.

"I was directed to take an alternate road which I did, but then, I was turned back from that road too and a police team told me to take the same route from which I had come.

"So, I turned back, but a group of traffic policemen, led by an inspector, attacked me without saying anything. They showered abuses on me, rained blows on me without listening to me," he added.

Kaul said he was shocked at being manhandled by the policemen.

"I received injuries, broke my spectacle. I was shocked and it seems as if there is a government sanction to such acts.

"If someone does something wrong, tell him and fine him, there is nothing wrong in that. But, is this right? Is this where we have reached in Kashmir today?" he said.

The NC leader said the physical pain does not bother him, "but I am humiliated by this deliberate hurt".

"If this could happen to me who has given so much to society, what would happen to a common man? I have a doubt whether it was a premeditated attack as I work for the NC," he said.

Kaul said he has filed a police complaint at the Nishat police station and the medical examination was done.

"Now, I only want the LG to understand that you cannot deal with your people like this. This cavalcade system must stop," he said.

"You cannot hold the people of the state in ransom like that. How long will it go on like this?" he added.