Andhra cops assault Army jawan in dispute over Disha app

Visakhapatnam: An Indian Army soldier was publicly assaulted by police personnel during an argument over downloading of Disha app on his mobile phone.

The incident occurred in Anakapalli district of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday.

Syed Aleemullah, serving in 52nd Rashtriya Rifles camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla, had come on leave to his home in Regupalini village of Yelamanchili mandal.

When he was waiting for a bus at Parawada on Tuesday, four police personnel including a woman asked him to download the Disha app on his mobile phone.

They took his mobile phone and started downloading the app. When one of the constables wrote down OTP received on his mobile, Aleemullah told them that cyber crimes are being committed through OTPs and asked the police constables to show their identity cards as they were not wearing name badges.

Angry over Aleemullah asking them to show their identity cards, they asked him if he couldn’t see the police uniforms they were wearing and ordered him to come to the police station.

When he refused, three policemen dragged him. One of them held him by his collar. They tried to bundle him into the autorickshaw. When the victim continued to resist, police personnel took away his identity card.

The soldier later met Anakapalli district Superintendent of Police K. V. Murali Krishna to lodge a complaint.

The SP ordered an inquiry and attached the four constables involved in the incident to the Armed Reserve.

Meanwhile, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) general secretary Nara Lokesh has condemned the incident. He posted on X that there is no direction to the Disha Act.

He stated that something is going on in the name of Disha app brought by the government for the safety of women. “Forced downloading of the Disha app for women on men’s mobiles raises suspicions. It is atrocious that the police attacked Syed Aleemullah, a soldier from Regupaleni, Anakapalli district, who questioned the same. A soldier who risks his life for the security of the country, has no security when he comes to Andhra Pradesh,” the TDP leader posted.

The Disha Act was brought in 2020 to check crimes against women. The state government also launched the Disha app to help women in distress.