Lucknow: Two railway policemen were suspended for allegedly thrashing a television journalist after an argument with him when he was covering the derailment of a goods train in Shamli, officials said on Wednesday. Journalist Amit Sharma also alleged that "they forced me to take my clothes off and urinated on me."

However, this charge has been denied by the Government Railway Police (GRP). Director General of Uttar Pradesh Police OP Singh ordered that Rakesh Kumar, the GRP's Shamli Station House Officer, and constable Sanjay Pawar be suspended, the state police tweeted Wednesday morning. A senior UP government official, quoting Shamli Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar Pandey, said the action was taken after the two GRP personnel thrashed Sharma. In a purported video of the incident which went viral on social media late last night, the accused GRP personnel, dressed in plain clothes, can be seen repeatedly slapping and punching Sharma. Subsequently, the GRP personnel detained him.