The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday ordered a CBI investigation into the case of Dr Sudhakar, an anaesthetist who was not only suspended from the duty over his complaint of shortage of PPE kits but also assaulted by the police officials last week in Vishakapatnam.
According to the reports, the Andhra Pradesh High Court asked the CBI to investigate and file the investigation report within eight weeks. Taking a serious note of the May 16 incident, the High Court also ordered registration of cases against Visakhapatnam police officers who used excessive force while taking Dr Sudhakar into custody.
The court had on Wednesday directed the Visakhapatnam sessions judge to personally visit the government Hospital for mental health where Sudhakar Rao is admitted and record his statement.
The High Court also took cognizance of a report filed by the Visakhapatnam District Magistrate that stated there were six injury marks on Dr Sudhakar, which was missing in the government report. Sudhakar is currently in a government mental hospital in Vishakapatnam.
The court passed the orders after hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking probe into inhuman treatment of the doctor. The petition was filed by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader V Anita, who had written a letter to the court demanding a probe into the doctor’s manhandling, arrest and admission to a mental hospital.
Cops assault doctor brutally for ‘creating nuisance’ on road
On May 16, in a ghastly incident, the Visakhapatnam police had brutally assaulted Dr Sudhakar, tied his hands and dragged him on the road for allegedly creating nuisance in public and abusing the YSR Congress-led state government in an intoxicated condition.
The videos of a police constable kicking and flooring a bare-chested Dr K Sudhakar had gone viral on social media, had drawn severe criticism, not just from the opposition parties but also civil society.
Reportedly, Sudhakar is an anesthesiologist at Narsipatnam government hospital, who was suspended by the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh government last month on disciplinary grounds after the doctor had demanded protective gears to treat coronavirus patients. The doctor had alleged that the government was not providing an adequate number of PPE kits and N-95 masks to the doctors.
A month after his suspension, the police brutality against the doctor has been reported after a police constable was seen attacking Dr Sudhakar in a public road. The doctor’s hand were tied behind his back by the policeman and beat him up before bundling him into an auto-rickshaw.
The opposition parties, especially Telugu Desam Party had condemned the attack against the doctor incident, alleging that the incident reflecting the poor state of law and order situation in the state.
Following the incident, the constable who had behaved rudely with the doctor was placed under suspension and an inquiry was initiated.
