Internal probe finds ACP guilty of beating up restaurateur

Internal probe finds ACP guilty of beating up restaurateur

An internal probe, conducted by DCP north division, on the incident in which Assistant Commissioner of Police (J.C. Nagar) Manjunath Babu was caught on camera caning a hotel owner in R.T. Nagar on November 9 has found lapses on the part of the officer.

The report containing the findings, along with statements of witnesses, will be submitted to the police commissioner. The victim and owner of Shetty Lunch Home, Rajeev Shetty sustained bruises after ACP Babu assaulted him around midnight allegedly because he had kept the hotel open beyond the stipulated timings.

A week after the incident, CCTV footage of the ACP beating Shetty went viral following which Police Commission T. Suneel Kumar ordered a departmental enquiry by DCP (north) Chethan Singh Rathore.

Rathore recorded the statements of the ACP, a constable accompanying him, the hotel owner, staff and witnesses.

“It was proved that ACP Babu assaulted the hotel owner without any reason and committed an offence. The report has been submitted to the commissioner for further action,” said a source.

During the night round with a constable, ACP Babu stopped at the hotel on November 9 around 11.56 p.m. and told the owner to shut it down as it was late. Rajeev replied that the government had given him permission to keep it open till 1 a.m. Angry with his reply, Babu beat him with a lathi while the constable chased customers out of the hotel.

Rajeev, who filed a complaint with the police, said that many hotels were open at the time, but only his was targeted by ACP Babu.