SI suspended for riding sans helmet after man sends pic to Commissioner

CHENNAI: In a first of its kind, a police sub-inspector has been suspended by Chennai city police for not wearing helmet while riding a motorcycle. The action was taken after a member of the public took photo of S Madhan Kumar of Mambalam police station when he was on patrol duty at T Nagar on Friday morning and sent it to city police commissioner AK Viswanathan. 

“On Friday morning around 7, Kumar was on patrol. When he was on South Usman road at T Nagar, a person driving a car clicked a photograph of the sub-inspector driving his motorbike without wearing a helmet,” a senior police officer said.The photograph sent to the Commissioner was forwarded to Joint Commissioner of Police (South) C Maheswari.

In the suspension order, the Joint Commissioner said the official had violated a Madras High Court order dated June 28 and DGP circular dated July 4, ordering police personnel to follow traffic rules.Earlier, personnel caught violating traffic rules were issued challans and were asked to pay fine. They were also issued a warning.

Chennai traffic police launched a GCTP mobile app on June 7, which allowed public to take pictures of traffic offenders. Almost one month after the launch, sources said, more than 300 cases were booked against police personnel through GCTP app.On July 4, Director-General of Police, J K Tripathy, issued a circular to all police stations in the State ordering the personnel to obey traffic rules and warned them that stringent action will be taken against violations.