Court Orders FIR Against 5 Policemen Including Then Premnagar SHO Naresh Rathore For Alleged Assault and Torture of Couple
Dehradun: In a serious case of alleged police brutality linked to Premnagar police station in Dehradun, a court has ordered registration of an FIR against five policemen including the then Station House Officer (SHO) Naresh Rathore for assaulting and torturing a couple.
Hearing a petition under Section 175(3) of BNSS filed by Praveen Semwal and his wife Pratiksha Semwal, the Second Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM), Dehradun has ordered registration of a case against the then SHO Naresh Rathore and four other policemen. The court has also directed that the investigation be conducted by an officer of the rank of Circle Officer (CO).
According to the complaint filed by the victim couple, they were subjected to physical assault and torture inside the police station by the then in-charge and other personnel.
Following the court order, the victim side has demanded a high-level inquiry into the matter.
The order has raised serious questions over police conduct at Premnagar police station and is likely to increase pressure on the Uttarakhand Police for departmental action as well.
According to the victim Praveen Semwal’s lawyer, on April 9, 2026, in the afternoon, policemen in a private vehicle reached Praveen Semwal and his wife Pratiksha Semwal and forcibly made them sit in the vehicle.
During this, on the way, the policemen even threatened to encounter them and brought them to Premnagar police station, where police started beating Praveen Semwal.
When his wife Pratiksha Semwal protested and tried to intervene, the police also allegedly assaulted her despite her being pregnant, due to which Pratiksha started bleeding. Medical documents have been presented before the court as evidence of the same.
The victim’s side also stated that after beating them and pressuring them inside the police station, they were made to sign a written agreement to pay Rs 20 lakh to a person named Yashpal Tanwar.
The victim’s advocate further told the court that Praveen and Pratiksha Semwal were kept in the police station from April 9 to April 10.
During this period, both told the police that their 4-year-old son was alone at home and requested to be allowed to go home, and victim Praveen requested the police to allow his wife to go home to feed milk to the child. But the police did not listen and kept them in lock-up and later…
This is the case in which the Second Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Dehradun has now accepted the application under Section 175(3) BNSS and ordered registration of an FIR against 5 policemen including then SHO Naresh Rathore and investigation by a CO rank officer.
