Jalna Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Anant Kulkarni was caught on camera on Friday (Independence Day) kicking a protester who attempted self-immolation before Maharashtra Minister Pankaja Munde's convoy. Kulkarni's act has drawn widespread condemnation.
According to the information received, Munde had come to Jalna on the occasion of Independence Day. At this time, a protester, identified as Gopal Chaudhary, who had been on a hunger strike in front of the District Collector's Office, tried to self-immolate in front of Munde's convoy. However, the police stopped him. After this, DSP Kulkarni was seen kicking one of the protesters.
Kulkarni later gave a clarification and said, "Chaudhary has been on a hunger strike in front of the District Collectorate for the past few days. During this time, the police have tried to convince him many times. Despite all this, on August 15, when Munde was on a tour, he tried to self-immolate by pouring kerosene on himself." Kulkarni added that when the police tried to stop him, he poured kerosene on a female police officer and hence, they used force to detain him.
Meanwhile, NCP-SP MLA Rohit Pawar slammed Kulkarni over the incident. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), he wrote in Marathi, "If the police are kicking the accused in serious crimes like murder, rape, robbery, it can be accepted, but if an officer is kicking a citizen who is going to meet a minister because he has not received justice even after a month of fasting, this is the height of perversion. Taking serious note of this, the government should take strict action against this police officer and also provide justice to the concerned citizen."
