Mumbai: In a video that has gone viral on social media, a traffic police assistant inspector has been found assaulting a youth for riding on the wrong side of the road in Vasai on Monday, much to the surprise of the onlookers.
Strangely enough, Ramsagar Mishra, who witnessed and recorded the video, an on-looker Vijender Singh and the unidentified youth have been booked under sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharging of his duty) and 143 (being member of unlawful assembly) of the IPC by the Nalasopara police.
The cop who assaulted the youth has been identified as assistant inspector Praveen Sawant. Two traffic police constables Arun Sawant and Deepak Mahadik were present at the spot when the incident occurred.
According to Mishra, the incident took place at around 6.30 pm near fire brigade office at Evershine City in Vasai (East). The youth was confronted by the cops on Nakabandi duty, for riding his motorcycle on the wrong side of the road. When asked for his licence, the youth questioned the cops for parking their two-wheelers on the wrong side of the road.
The youth and Sawant got into an argument which got violent. Sawant is seen in the video roughing up the youth in broad daylight, even as a huge crowd watched in horror. The police version claims that Mishra was caught for travelling triple seat on a two-wheeler and was made to wait, which is when he shot the video.
Mishra however refuted the claims of the cops and said that the youth on seeing the traffic cops, did not even enter the road. The police, however, charged towards him and demanded his licence. Mishra said that the cop caught Singh’s collar and was dragging him like a criminal.
This high-handedness of the cops however has evoked quite a rage on social media sites, with lots of comments pouring in against the atrocities. However, quite a few have also supported the decision of the cops.
