The police crackdown on the protesters at Jamia Millia have been all over the Internet. Amid all the posts and images that social media is flooded with, people are talking about an image of a man in civil clothes beating the protesters.
There are rumours that this man is a civilian and not a part of the Delhi police. An officer of Delhi police has claimed that the man in the red t-shirt and jeans is not a civilian, but a constable.
According to reports, the constables weren’t in their uniforms because they were attached with a team of detectives at the district’s Anti Auto Theft Squad (AATS).
Talking to HT, Chinmoy Biswal, DCP (South-East) explained the reason behind this. He said:
The AATS team is generally in civil clothes because of the nature of their work that revolves around detecting crimes.
Inspector Love Atrey, AATS, who was with the viral constable and other members of his team on the day of protests, elaborated on the situation. He said:
A dozen of us set out without changing into our uniform. At the spot, we put on anti-riot jackets and wore our motorcycle helmets before dealing with the mob.
According to News18, the man in the civilian clothes is constable Arvind from the AATS. On that day all reserve policemen were called for law and order duty suddenly when the protests turned violent.
In its preliminary briefing to the MHA, Delhi Police also clarified that it did not fire a single bullet and used only tear gas.