A police constable attached to the Armed Reserve (AR) was accused of asking about the caste details for a mask violation case at Perumanallur in Tiruppur district.
P. Sivakumar, a functionary of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi from Avinashi, said that he was driving a two-wheeler with his wife in the pillion seat in Perumanallur, near Avinashi, at around 1.30 p.m. on Thursday. “We just finished having lunch at a restaurant and I was not wearing a mask while driving, but my wife was wearing her mask,” he recalled on Friday. The two-wheeler was stopped by the constable Kasiraja, who asked for his particulars such as name and address for not wearing a mask.
Mr. Sivakumar alleged that the constable then proceeded to ask his caste, which he refused to disclose. He began recording a video of Kasiraja on his smartphone while having an argument and circulated it on social media platforms on Thursday evening.
Action initiated
A senior officer with Tiruppur District Police told The Hindu on Friday that Avinashi Deputy Superintendent of Police L. Baskar called Kasiraja and two police constables attached to the Perumanallur police station namely Nataraj and Veluchamy for inquiry following the viral video.
Mr. Nataraj was at the spot along with the AR constable during the incident while Mr. Veluchamy assigned the duty to them. Both the police constables were shifted to the AR on Friday, the officer said. Further disciplinary action will be initiated after the inquiry is completed, according to the officer.
The officer noted that according to an order issued by the State government on September 17, police officials “not below the rank of Sub-Inspector” only could levy the fine amount for mask violations, as part of the COVID-19 precautionary measures.