Man gets 5 years in jail for driving car into constable

The sessions court on Saturday sentenced a driver to five years rigorous imprisonment for ramming his vehicle into a police barricade and injuring a constable on duty. The court refused to show the convict, Surendrakumar Gupta, 31, any leniency, observing that these days it has become common for people to disobey police personnel.

“The accused ought to have thought before committing the offence. Nowadays, attacks on police persons and other public servants are rising. It is fashionable not to obey the directions of the police and avoid traffic rules. The accused has driven a tourist car and therefore he should be more responsible than any ordinary driver,” said judge KR Joglikar while deciding the sentence.

The court also imposed on Gupta a fine of ₹16,000, of which ₹15,000 is to be given to the police constable who was injured.

As per the prosecution’s case, Gupta was driving a tourist vehicle on the night of February 14, 2017. Mumbai Police had placed barricades and organised a nakabandi at the water suction centre in Haji Ali. At 2.45am, when the convict was nearing the spot, constable Praveen Nikam signalled him to stop his car. Gupta, however, did not stop and instead rammed into the barricade. The car hit Nikam who fell and sustained injuries on left leg and shoulder. He was immediately taken to hospital and a case against Gupta was registered with Tardeo police station.

First Published: Jul 21, 2019 04:13 IST