2 traffic cops beat up driver, suspended

CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: Two police constables with the Waluj traffic division of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar have been suspended after a video showing the duo brutally assaulting a truck driver made it to social media on Thursday.
Police identified the two constables as Nitin Vyavhare and Sudhir More. "The incident took place a couple of days back," an officer said.
Incidentally, the video surfaced online on the day Pravin Pawar took charge as the commissioner of police.Pawar pulled up the traffic police authorities and directed them to "mend their ways or face action".
Deputy commissioner of police (headquarter) Shilwant Nandedkar, who heads the traffic branch too, on Thursday evening issued show-cause notices to the constables involved in the incident. Besides, he issued suspension orders citing that their actions had maligned the image of the city police among the citizens.
When contacted, Waluj traffic division's inspector Sachin Ingole said the preliminary investigation into the incident has revealed that the victim seen in the video was speeding a heavy vehicle because of which the two constables signalled him to stop, but he refused.
When one of the traffic constables tried to stop the heavy vehicle, the driver accelerated. This is when one of the two constables caught hold of the vehicle's bar.
When the heavy vehicle stopped the constables found that the driver was in inebriated condition, police said. "He was neither ready to furnish the vehicle's documents nor his driving licence, making him look suspicious. Around this time, the constables lost their cool and allegedly beat him up, for which now they have been suspended," Ingole said.
Another officer from the Waluj police said the preliminary probe has revealed that it was one of the commuters, who spotted the traffic constables assaulting the heavy vehicle driver. He recorded the incident and shared it on social media, resulting into outrage and angst against the traffic police.