Jammu and Kashmir’s former education minister Harsh Dev Singh has alleged that he and his wife were tortured inside Udhampur station and faced encounter threats on Monday for protesting against the arrest of an individual over a social media post and against the purported police-backed mining mafia in the area.

Personnel caught Singh by the limbs and dragged him inside Udhampur police station in Jammu when he was addressing journalists during the dharna. Later, his wife entered the police station to plead for his release.

When Singh was released after a few hours, he showed journalists injury marks from purported beating.

Singh, a three-time former MLA and chief of the Jammu-based Panthers Party, pointed out that he was assaulted at a time the administration was holding G20 "celebrations" in Srinagar, referring to the much-publicised tourism meeting of the international grouping.

“My wife and I were beaten inside (the police station). I have suffered injuries. All this happened while they were celebrating G20,” Singh told The Telegraph.

Singh addressed a media conference on Tuesday where he repeated the charges against the police and alleged that the BJP was providing protection to the mining mafia. He said the police had arrested a local critical of the authorities, prompting him to stage the protest.

“In which country are we living? What kind of democracy is this? We are not only assaulted for staging a peaceful protest but face threats of encounter. Is there any rule of law here? Do you have any respect for the Constitution? The police have unleashed hooliganism and terrorism,” Singh said.

The alleged police action against Singh was condemned widely in Jammu.

Udhampur station house officer Raghubir Singh denied the allegations. He said Harsh Dev Singh had blocked the road to the police station and he had been removed. “Nothing of that sort (torture and encounter threats) happened,” the officer said.

The former education minister said Section 65 of the IT Act, related to tampering with computer source documents and which had been quashed by the Supreme Court, had been invoked against the arrested local.

“I have been an MLA for 18 years, and have also been a minister. I have been honoured at the state, national and international level. I have been honoured by Harvard University, which is the world's most famous university. But here we are treated like this, for speaking for the people,” Harsh Dev Singh said.

“The SHO is telling me (inside the police station) that they can also do encounters. These encounter specialists should be sent to the border. They don’t deserve to live here. Only civilised people live here,” he added.

Harsh Dev Singh is a law graduate and has an MA in English from Jammu University.

The Jammu politician sought action against the police officer and wondered if the action against him had been taken at the behest of the BJP.