NEW Delhi said on Thursday (February 13) it had asked the United States to urgently investigate reports US police attacked an Indian grandfather during a visit to the country and left him partially paralysed.
Police in northern Alabama stopped Sureshbhai Patel and threw him to the ground last week after they received a call about a suspicious person walking up driveways and peeking into garages, local website al.com reported.
The 57-year-old was visiting his son, an engineer living in Alabama, and was out on a morning stroll when the incident occurred, according to the report, which was widely picked up in Indian media.
“We expressed concern at what appears from media reports as the excessive use of force by police,” Indian foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told reporters after meeting with a senior US diplomat.
“We have requested expeditious investigations and sharing of investigations and that action (be) taken,” he added.
The report on al.com said the attack left Patel bleeding from the face, paralysed and in need of surgery.
He had indicated to police he did not speak English and repeated his son's house number while pointing towards it, the younger Patel told al.com.
The officers then “put him to the ground” after he allegedly put his hands in his pockets during frisking, the son said.
US police are under heightened scrutiny after the recent police killings of unarmed black men.
