Auto-rickshaw driver assaults woman traffic cop, drags her for 50 metres

A woman traffic constable was allegedly assaulted by an auto-rickshaw driver near Kalyan railway station. The auto driver dragged the constable along with the vehicle for around 50 metres when she allegedly demanded to see his license, police said.

According to Kalyan police, the accused has been identified as Nagesh Awalgiri (27). “Constable Asha Gawande (24) was managing the traffic near Deepak Hotel on Tuesday evening, when the autorickshaw driver, Awalgiri, stopped in the middle of the road, looking for customers. When Gawande asked for him to move, he started arguing with her, saying that he is just waiting for customers,” a police officer said.

He added, “Awalgiri started hitting her hand, placed on the rickshaw, asking her to move away. When she asked for his license, he immediately started the vehicle and knowing that Gawande was holding part of the vehicle, tried to speed away.” While Gawande fell on the road and was dragged, the driver fled the spot, police said.

However, he was later arrested by the police. “The traffic constable had noted down the registration number, based on which, the accused was arrested later on Tuesday night,” said a senior officer.

He added, “We have booked the accused under sections 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 332 (Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 201 (giving false information to screen offender) and other sections of the Indian Penal Code. We are also investigating if he had a license or not.”

This is the second incident in Thane in the past 10 days where traffic constables have been assaulted.

In Thane, near the toll naka, a traffic constable was beaten up by five people who were arrested later. While residents claim that the traffic constables are responsible for the road rage, the traffic officials claim that their strict policing is leading to this behaviour.