25/06/2025
*Jammu Police Faces Inquiry After Public Humiliation of Theft Accused Sparks Outrage*
SRINAGAR: A departmental inquiry has been ordered into the conduct of police personnel in Jammu after a dramatic incident involving the public shaming of a theft suspect drew widespread criticism and triggered a heated debate over the legality and ethics of such actions.
On Tuesday, a man suspected of theft and linked to a recently busted criminal gang was paraded through the streets with a garland of shoes around his neck and briefly made to sit on the bonnet of a moving police vehicle near the busy Bakshi Nagar area. A video of the incident, showing cheering onlookers and a public address system announcing the arrest, went viral on social media, prompting accusations of “jungle raj” and abuse of police power.
Taking serious note of the incident, Jammu’s Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Joginder Singh condemned the episode as “unprofessional” and “unbecoming of a disciplined force”. He announced a departmental probe led by the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) City North, with instructions to submit findings within a week.
The accused, a resident of Kashmir, was reportedly under the influence of drugs when he was confronted outside a hospital by a man who had been robbed of Rs 40,000 a few days earlier. According to Bakshi Nagar SHO Azad Manhas, the accused attacked the complainant with a knife during the confrontation and tried to flee. Police personnel on patrol, assisted by local youths, chased and apprehended him.
In the aftermath, the suspect was tied up, made to wear a garland of footwear, and paraded briefly atop a moving police vehicle through the city streets. Onlookers were seen shouting slogans in support of the police team, even as the scene was recorded and shared widely online.
While the SHO maintained that the police were acting under pressure following the assault, the subsequent humiliation of the accused appears to have been encouraged or, at the very least, tolerated by the officers on duty. SSP Singh, however, categorically distanced the police force from the act and assured accountability.
This marks the second such instance in Jammu this month. On June 11, three men involved in a shootout at Gangyal Chowk were publicly thrashed by police personnel before being taken to the station.
Tuesday’s incident has reignited calls for police reform and human rights accountability. Several netizens tagged Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and the National Human Rights Commission, demanding strict action. “Law enforcers must not become lawbreakers,” wrote one user, while another termed the act a “blatant violation of Article 21 of the Constitution”.
The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Jammu and Kashmir Police have yet to comment officially on the broader implications of repeated instances of public punishment in lieu of due legal process.
The inquiry’s outcome will be closely watched, not just in Jammu but across the Union Territory, as it may set a precedent for how police conduct is scrutinised in high-pressure law-and-order situations.
