The incident happened on 2 April in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh where local journalist and YouTuber Kanishk Tiwari, who has been identified in the photo, was detained by police.
He said that he had gone to cover the arrest of theatre artist Neeraj Kunder who was arrested for allegedly making indecent remarks about BJP MLA Kedarnath Shukla and his son Guru Dutt using a fake ID.

“We had gone to the Kotwali police station to enquire about his arrest. But we were arrested by the police and kept in lock-up for almost 18 hours. We were beaten, abused, and were asked to remove our clothes.”

Neeraj Kunder is the director of Indravati Natya Samiti in Sidhi district, and has reportedly been working to saving the art of Vindhyas.

As per reports, Kunder had created a fake Facebook ID in the name of Anurag Mishra. Upon his arrest, many people, including Kunder’s parents and Tiwari, had gone to the police station.

Another theatre artist Narendra Bahadur Singh, who had gone to the police station in support of Neeraj Kunder, alleged that they were all beaten up and asked to strip.

Mukesh Kumar Shrivastava, Superintendent of Police, Sidhi district, said there were no journalists but miscreants who were arrested.

But when asked about the viral photo showing Kanishk and others half-naked, SP Shrivastava said, “It’s a normal procedure to ensure that none of them could attempt anything unwanted, such as killing themselves. The photo has come to my attention – and I have ordered enquiry into the matter. Whosoever clicked and distributed the photo will soon be found and legal action will be taken against those involved.”

However, Kanishk Tiwari said that he had gone to cover the developments in the arrest of Neeraj Kunder. He alleged that he was assaulted and humiliated because of his previous coverage against the local politicians and police in the district.