Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, NERC, Guwahati regional director Richa Negi along with filmmaker Bappa Ray and a cinematographer were allegedly humiliated by security personnel at Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh on Monday.
The incident took place while Negi, Ray and the cinematographer were on the way to the hotel after attending a festival of films at the Rajiv Gandhi University here.
Negi said that they were stopped by the police and CRPF personnel.
“We were asked by the policemen from where we were coming and the purpose, which was fair enough till then. Suddenly, they demanded papers from Ray very rudely, one of them jerked open the dashboard and roughly clutched the papers of the vehicle,” she said.
Deep Das, the driver of the vehicle, requested the security personnel to be gentle as they were from a government department. “This made them more hostile. They pulled the driver and one of them hit him four-five times with a bamboo baton,” Negi said.
“Another policeman rudely demanded to check my handbag. I said, I will show it to only a lady officer. He reacted aggressively and behaved in an uncivilised manner while pointing the baton at me,” Negi said.
Terming the incident unfortunate, Capital SP Tumme Amo said that he has directed all security personnel to be gentle and any seizure or enforcement of any law or model code of conduct (MCC) shall not be at the cost of public convenience.
He said that the MCC should not hinder smooth traffic flow or cause any harassment to any person. The incident happened during the checking under MCC by the SST in the presence of a magistrate.
“The matter is being inquired into and action will be taken. But, I also request everyone to cooperate with us as we also have no special or personal interest in standing awake on roads day and night,” he said, adding that people should bear small inconveniences to avoid bigger problems.