Gujarat: RTI activist, van driver held for threatening traffic cop

VADODARA: A right to information (RTI) activist and a driver of a pickup van were arrested on Tuesday for abusing and threatening a head constable of city police’s traffic branch at Khodiyarnagar crossroads.
Head constable Dinesh Jeevanlal stopped the pickup van driver Arvind Solanki at the crossroads. Jeevanlal and a few other traffic cops were deployed at the busy junction to serve pending e-challans to vehicles by checking through a mobile phone application. When Jeevanlal entered the pickup van’s registration details, the application showed that Solanki had to pay Rs500 for an e-challan issued on January 21.
On being asked to pay the fine, Solanki refused to pay the money and instead called RTI activist Atul Gamechi. Solanki told cops that Gamechi owns the pickup van and he works for him. When Gamechi reached the crossroads, he allegedly started abusing the traffic constable and asked him who had given him authority to check Solanki’s driving licence.
Jeevanlal said when he asked Gamechi to not abuse, he and Solanki started threatening him that he will lose his job over this. As the arguments heated, a huge crowd gathered at the spot, due to which Jeevanlal called police control room. A PCR van took the duo away to Warasia police station. Later Jeevanlal gave a complaint against them on the basis of which an offence of criminal intimidation and obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions was registered.