Army denies beating a civilian at Mehdipatnam Garrison

Hyderabad: The Army on Monday denied reports that appeared in a section of media on alleged beating of a civilian on July 5 by the sentry on duty at Mehdipatnam Military Garrison.

"False and baseless complaints have been made by Mr Abdul Nabi. The news reported in few sections of the media is one sided and factually incorrect. The Army refutes all the allegations made by Mr Abdul Nabi and Smt Qumar Nabi and has already contacted the local officials and senior citizens to ensure non-occurrence of such unpleasant incidents," the Army said in its clarification.

According to the Army, on July 5 at about 2.40 pm Mr Abdul Nabi, along with three ladies, all residents of Siddiqui Nagar arrived at Basantar gate of Mehdipatnam Military Garrison in a civil car. As per the existing security procedure, which is known to the residents of Siddiqui Nagar, the occupants were requested to display their security passes. However, but for Mr Abdul Nabi, none of the occupants was carrying their passes. Mr Nabi was then requested to make an entry in the register for civilians entering the garrison without passes. Mr Nabi refused to enter the details and started abusing and threatening the troops of dire consequences. On being requested to follow the procedure, Mr Nabi in a highly agitated state pushed the sentry on duty and in self defence the sentry restrained Mr Nabi and prevented him from causing any harm, says the Army press release.

"In the later part of the evening, Mr Abdul Nabi and the local residents gathered at the incident location and started shouting anti-national, anti-government and anti-Army slogans. The Commander of Mehdipatnam Military Garrison interacted with Nampally MLA Jaffer Hussain Meraj, DCP Central Zone Venkateshwar Rao and Siddique Nagar Civilian Association President Sardar Ali and apprised them of the prevailing security situation which mandates civilian access control and regulating traffic entering the garrison," the Army said.