Probe ordered after businessman accuses police of assault

Chandigarh, Dec 27 (IANS) An inquiry was initiated against Chandigarh's Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Madhur Verma and his three gunmen here Saturday for allegedly beating a businessman, police said.

'An inquiry has been marked to me against the police officials by Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Mahabir Singh. I will ensure fair investigations in the case and after listening to both the parties carefully and recording their statements, I will start my investigations,' H.S. Doon, superintendent of police (security), told IANS.

Arvind Kumar Pandey, a shopkeeper in Sector 17 here, lodged a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday evening, accusing Verma of beating him with the help of his gunmen at his (Verma's) office. Verma has denied the charge.

Pandey was taken to the hospital by the CBI sleuths for medical examination and the injuries have been confirmed in the medical report.

'I went to the ASP's office to find the status of my complaint regarding a property dispute in Sector 17. On seeing me, the ASP got infuriated and shouted at me and said that I was trying to do a sting operation with the help of a tape recorder. He slapped me and his gunmen beat me mercilessly for nearly 20 minutes,' Pandey told IANS.

He said that Pandey had come to his office and inquired about police investigations into a case and left three-four minutes later.

On Nov 7, CBI sleuths arrested Sanjeev Kumar, a sub-inspector of the Chandigarh police, in a corruption case following a complaint by Pandey.