New Delhi: The Border Security Force (BSF) has suspended a jawan on charges of molesting a local woman at a grocery store in restive Manipur last week, an official said on Tuesday.
A CCTV captured video of head constable Satish Prasad, allegedly abusing the woman donning his combat uniform and carrying an INSAS rifle, was also shared widely over social media.
Watch the video here:
Incident reported on July 20 in Imphal
A BSF officer said the incident was reported on July 20 in the Imphal West district and after the paramilitary force received a complaint, the allegation was checked and subsequently the trooper was suspended on the same day.
Court of Inquiry proceeding initiated against the head constable
A Court of Inquiry proceeding has been initiated against the head constable who belongs to the number 100 battalion of the force that was sent to the state as an ad-hoc unit for security duties in the wake of the ethnic violence in the northeastern state, the officer said. The BSF has zero tolerance for such acts and a fair investigation will be conducted in this incident, he said.
However, on Tuesday evening, the official Twitter account of the Spear Corps of the Indian Army in a tweet claimed that the man seen in the video does not belong to the Indian Army.
“Few videos with baseless attribution/ narrative/ transcription aimed at casting aspersions on#IndianArmy are being circulated by inimical elements on social media. The person depicted in one such video being circulated does not belong to Indian Army & originator must verify facts before posting such malicious content,” said Spear Corps of the Indian Army.
More than 160 people have lost their lives, and several injured since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3, when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
(With inputs from PTI)
