Ludhiana, April 17
A day after video footage of a woman being brutally thrashed by a group of men was shown on various news channels, the city police today arrested three persons and suspended three policemen.

Jatinderjit Singh, Station House Officer (SHO), Daba police station, Assistant Sub-Inspector Jaswant Singh (ASI) and Head Constable (HC) Avinash were suspended and sent to the Police Lines on the orders of Commissioner of Police Ishwar Singh.

"The three have been suspended for dereliction of duty. Further, we have formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Additional DCP Nilamberi Jagdale and Assistant CP Gurpreet Kaur Purewal to investigate the matter. Prima facie, there was a delay in registering a case.

The safety of women is of paramount importance and strict action will be taken against policemen not acting on a woman’s complaint," said Ishwar Singh. He denied that the erring policemen were under political pressure.

He said the SIT would probe the monetary dispute that had led to the brutal assault.

"The three have been suspended for dereliction of duty. Further, we have formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Additional DCP Nilamberi Jagdale and Assistant CP Gurpreet Kaur Purewal to investigate the matter. Prima facie, there was a delay in registering a case.

The safety of women is of paramount importance and strict action will be taken against policemen not acting on a woman’s complaint," said Ishwar Singh. He denied that the erring policemen were under political pressure.

He said the SIT would probe the monetary dispute that had led to the brutal assault. In the meantime, Manoj Kumar, Kalu and Rahul Kumar have been arrested and a hunt is on to nab the fourth accused, Ashok Kumar, suspected to be hiding in Uttar Pradesh. They have been booked under Sections 452, 323 and 382 of the SC/ST Act and Section 68 of the IT Act. Rita (32) of Prem Nagar was thrashed publicly with rods and sticks on April 3 following a monetary dispute. She claims to have reported the matter to the police but the latter failed to act. Over 100 residents of Prem Nagar today staged a dharna outside the office of the Additional DCP, Bhupinder Singh, alleging that the police had succumbed to media pressure and registered a case.