On July 27, a SWAT team of Uttar Pradesh’s Basti Police was transferred by the Director-General of Police OP Singh for flaunting their weapons in a video after an alleged encounter.
The video was shot and uploaded to TikTok, the wildly popular social media platform. It even comes with a background song (with references to the army) and includes visuals of the policemen talking to one another as though strategising for a mission and flaunting their guns. The leader of the SWAT team, Vikram Singh, is seen giving instructions to other members who are equipped with pistols and an AK-47.
Commenting on the transfer of the cops, UP police said in a tweet, “We do not sanction unprofessional display of weapons and grotesque caricaturing of police.”
This is not the first time when TikTok videos have landed police personnel in trouble. On July 20, a Gujarat policewoman filmed a TikTok video of herself dancing inside a police station. She was suspended for “violating the rules”.
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