RPF constable Dinesh Swami detains vendor in Vasai station lock-up, thrashes him black and blue when the latter refuses to give him an additional hafta
RPF constable Dinesh Swami brutally beat up tea vendor Hari Singh for not giving him hafta. Pic/Hanif Patel
Goondaraj is omnipresent, as was visible in an incident that happened at Vasai station on Wednesday night. An RPF constable allegedly brutally beat up a 22-year-old tea vendor at a platform there for not giving him hafta.
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The constable went berserk to the extent that he broke three lathis on the victim’s back while beating him up. And yet, when he was presented in the Vasai court yesterday, he was let off after being slapped with a meagre fine of Rs 900.
The RPF office at Vasai station where the victim was locked up and assaulted
Late-night assault
The incident occurred when Hari Singh was selling tea and water at the station. Hari used to give hafta to RPF officers, but Swami demanded more from him that night. After beating him up, he also threatened him.
Hari, who hails from Madhya Pradesh, stays with his elder brother Devendra in a rented flat in Vasai’s Pankaj Apartment. Both sell tea and water at the station as well as in trains.
Hari, who has been admitted in the hospital, told mid-day, “For the last two years, I have been selling tea and water at the station as well as in trains and earn around Rs 500 a day, most of which goes in giving hafta to the RPF personnel who come demanding it.”
“On Wednesday around 10.30 pm, constable Swami caught me at the station and took me to their office and put me inside the lock-up. He has taken money from me on several occasions in the past for buying petrol, vegetables and even alcohol,” Hari added.
“He was drunk that night and started asking me for money, saying he wouldn’t let me out otherwise. When I refused to, he started beating me up. I cried and begged him to leave me, but he didn’t stop. He didn’t stop even when another officer tried to intervene and hold him back.”
Complete apathy
The vendor further alleged that Swami threatened to book him in a fake theft case. “I went to the GRP to lodge a complaint, but instead of taking note of my grievance, the officer there asked me to go for a medical check-up,” he said.
When contacted, senior inspector of Vasai GRP Mahesh Bagwe, however, said, “The victim came to us to register a complaint. We sent him for a medical check-up, but he never came back.”
Deputy superintendent of Vasai RPF as well as the commissioner didn’t reply to mid-day’s text messages.
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