'Assault' of woman by police official; enquiry begins

The incident had led to outrage, following which government had ordered closure of the shop.

Coimbatore Rural Superintendent of Police Ramya Bharathi, who began the enquiry, visited the area, accompanied by some other senior officials.

Police sources said a detailed enquiry would be held from April 17.

DGP West Zone IG I Pari ordered the enquiry by Rural SP and asked her to submit a report in a week, which would be sent to the DGP for follow up action, they said.

The police official's act, caught on camera, went viral drawing strong protests, leading to the administration ordering closure of the outlet at Samalapuram,about 20 km from Tirupur, the next day and an enquiry being ordered.

The National Human Rights Commission had issued notice to the Chief Secretary and GDP, seeking their reports.

The incident had occurred on April 11 evening when some people, including women, blocked a road demanding closure of state-run TASMAC liquor outlet, relocated to their locality consequent to the Supreme Court ban on sale of liquor within 500 metres of highways.

As they refused to disperse, the Additional Deputy Superintendent of Police Pandiarajan 'slapped' a woman and pushed two others, asking them to move away from the road.

As the video went viral, various political parties, including DMK and BJP, had condemned the 'police brutality'.