'They started beating me with rifle butts and lathis in a barbaric manner'

Martin Massey recounts his ordeal at the hands of VIP security.

I returned home at New Friends Colony after 7 pm. Then I went to meet a friend in Khan Market around 9 pm on my scooter. While I was returning from Khan Market, I saw the traffic had been stopped at the Zakir Hussain Marg crossing for the prime minister's motorcade. I was waiting at the front row of automobiles.

After waiting for some time, I saw a blue Maruti Gypsy moving towards the flyover near the Oberoi hotel. I thought the PM had already passed and the traffic had received a clearance.

I started my scooter and began to move. Suddenly I saw a police van speeding behind me with its siren blaring. I thought the police was chasing somebody, panicked and tried to stop my scooter. But within seconds the police Gypsy rammed into me.

I fell down. But before I could get up some six policemen jumped out of the Gypsy, hurled abuses at me and began dragging me. I asked them what were they doing. I knew that they pounced on me for straying onto the road. I apologised and said I did not know that the PM had not yet passed. But they refused to listen to me. Soon two more police Gypsies came and one inspector ordered something.

They then dragged me towards a deserted place near Humayun's tomb. Here they were joined by six more policemen. They started beating me with rifle butts and lathis in a barbaric manner. They kicked me in my face. I cried and implored them to stop beating. They abused me and continued beating for ten minutes.

Soon I began bleeding profusely. Seeing this the policemen panicked and two of them took me to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in an autorickshaw. I was given first aid there and brought back to the Nizamuddin police station at two in the night. At the police station, the head constable forcibly took my thumb impression on a black paper. They then called for an autorickshaw and asked the driver to drop me home.

I reached home crying. Early on Saturday morning, my son Mark went to the police station to take my scooter. But two police constables demanded Rs 3,000. Mark had Rs 1,000 with him and had to give them that to take the scooter. Mark was then forced to sign a statement which stated that I met with an accident due to drunken driving.

As told to George Iype