A day after IPS officer Charu Nigam broke down (video above) following a spat with BJP MLA Radha Mohan Das Agarwal in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh she clarified the cause in a Facebook post, “My tears were not my weakness”.
She stated: “My training hasn’t taught me to be weak...I just did not expect that my SP city Ganesh Saha Sir would outrightly (sic) reject the irrational argument and talk about my injury. Before sir came, I was the senior-most officer in police there but when sir came and stood by the force, I got emotional.”
On Sunday, Agarwal, who is an MLA from the UP Chief Minister Adityanath’s parliamentary constituency of Gorakhpur, reached the Kareemnagar area and told Nigam “not to cross limits” after she had evicted protesters outside a liquor shop in the area. Agarwal alleged that the police had forcibly removed protesters and become violent, according to a report. “The MLA misbehaved with me and refused to acknowledge in full public view that he is speaking to a woman police officer,” Nigam reportedly said.
Agarwal, on his part, denied that he had misbehaved. “Is my body language showing that I am misbehaving with her?” he said. “I was not speaking to the CO (Charu Nigam), but to SP (City). See my body language properly.”
According to Agarwal, the video missed what really happened: “We are against the operation of liquor shops. People were peacefully protesting against the liquor shops, but the lady police officer forcibly removed the protesters and while doing so, she hit a woman and dragged an 80-year-old man. This simply cannot be tolerated.”
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!