Mohd Aasif | Clarion India
NEW DELHI — A video from UP’s Hapur district went viral on Friday showing an elderly fruit seller making a futile attempt to recover fruits from the drain, The Times of India reported. People in the video can be heard blaming the Kotwali cops for the incident. The incident invited widespread criticism from netizens.
हापुड़ – पुलिस वालों ने फल विक्रेता का ठेला फलों सहित नाले में फेंक दिया । फल विक्रेता ने नाले में जाकर अपना सामान बाहर निकाला । रोता बिलखता रहा फल विक्रेता । थाना हापुड़ कोतवाली @myogiadityanath @dgpup @Uppolice @yadavakhilesh @Rajende96879385 @bstvlive @MrityunjayUP pic.twitter.com/H26dWHykIm
— Tajinder singh ( ਤੇਜਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ ) (@tajinderhpr) July 16, 2020
A netizen, Tajinder Singh, tagging the UP Police along with other officials tweeted on his handle, “Hapur-Cops threw the fruit cart of the vendor in a drain. The hawker fished out his articles from the drain. Fruit seller kept crying. Police station Hapur Kotwali. (Hapur-Police walon ne fal vikreta ka thhela falon sahit naale men fenk diya. Fal vikreta ne nale men jakar apna saman baahar nikala. Rota bilakhta raha fal vikreta. Thana Hapur Kotwali.)
The incident took place on Thursday evening when an anti-encroachment drive began in a Covid-19 hotspot in Kotwali city area in the district where Rohtas Singh was selling fruits along with his son Ashok Kumar.
“A van from Kotwali arrived and police began lathi-charge and toppled our cart. We have suffered losses of up to Rs 6,000,” Kumar had told the media.
However, the Hapur police rejected the charges. District police media cell in-charge Hansraj said that police had nothing to do with it.
“The cart toppled after the owner heard a police siren during an anti-encroachment drive and tried to hurriedly make his way through a narrow stretch,” Sarvesh Mishra, additional superintendent of police (Hapur), told The Times of India.
~पुलिसवालों ने फल विक्रेता का ठेला पलटा~
इस सम्बन्ध में फल विक्रेता ने बताया कि किसी पुलिसकर्मी ने दुर्व्यवहार/ठेला नहीं पलटा बल्कि पुलिस की गाड़ी के हूटर की आवाज सुनकर घबराहट में ठेले का पहिया नाले के हॉल में आ गया, जिसकी वजह से ठेला पलट गया था।
फल विक्रेता का वक्तव्य@Uppolice pic.twitter.com/rZRb3EVw7C— HAPUR POLICE (@hapurpolice) July 17, 2020
The Hapur Police later uploaded the video of the son of the vendor rejecting the claims made earlier. Quoting the vendor. the police commented on the tweeted video in Hindi, “No cop had misbehaved or toppled the fruit cart. Rather, one of the tyres of the cart went into the drain as he rushed after listening to the police hooter that caused the toppling of the fruit cart.”
Looks like facts don’t agree with propaganda yet again.
No, the fruit seller’s cart was not ‘pushed’ by UP Police in a drain. It makes for a great ‘anti-poor’ story to blame CM @myogiadityanath
Here it from the fruit seller himself. @hapurpolice pic.twitter.com/7DaNn29Wnb
— Gunja Kapoor (@gunjakapoor) July 17, 2020
The video was later posted by another right-wing activist Gunja Kapoor commenting and tagging CM Yogi Adityanath as criticism of fake news peddling. She said, “Looks like facts don’t agree with propaganda yet again. No, the fruit seller’s cart was not ‘pushed’ by the UP Police in a drain. It makes for a great ‘anti-poor’ story to blame CM @myogiadityanath. Here it is from the fruit seller himself. @hapurpolice”
