New Delhi: A couple who argued and misbehaved with Delhi Police after they were caught without masks, a video of which went viral Sunday, has been arrested and booked under sections pertaining to Covid protocol violations and obstructing public servants from performing their duty, among others.
Speaking to the media after the arrest, the man sought to wash his hands of the affair and blamed the whole fracas on his wife.
The couple in question has been identified as Pankaj Dutta and Abha Gupta.
Delhi was under a curfew over the past weekend — extended for a week Monday — amid the ongoing surge in Covid cases.
According to the police, Dutta and Gupta were pulled over in Central Delhi’s Daryaganj area around 4.30 pm Sunday for travelling in their car without masks. This was a violation of Covid guidelines in the capital, where people are required to be masked in cars even if alone.
The couple also allegedly didn’t have the mandatory curfew pass. In viral videos of the ensuing minutes, the couple is seen arguing with the police for being pulled over, asking them why their car was stopped.
At one point, the man says: “Can’t you understand I am in a closed car with my wife”, before the wife adds: “bewakoof bana rakha hai corona ke naam pe (they are taking us for a ride in the name of coronavirus)”.
When police personnel say they will be fined for not wearing masks, the woman calls them “beggars”. She was with her husband and could even kiss him if she wanted, she adds.
While the man was arrested Sunday, the woman was arrested Monday.
“The husband and wife refused to wear masks and even misbehaved with police personnel during weekend curfew. They further obstructed the police personnel in the discharge of their duties,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Jasmeet Singh told ThePrint.
Both, he said, have been booked under several sections of the IPC. The sections pertain to violations of Covid guidelines, obstructing public servants in discharge of duty, assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty, and negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life.
A section of the Delhi Disaster Management Act, the law under which Covid restrictions have been imposed, has been invoked too.
The couple was denied bail Monday and sent to a day’s judicial custody. They will be presented before court again Tuesday.
‘Wife doesn’t let me wear masks’
The couple lives in Delhi’s Patel Nagar area. While Abha is from Uttar Pradesh, Pankaj is from Delhi and works as a marketing professional. During the argument, Abha claimed she had cleared the UPSC Main and that her father is a sub-inspector.
“We are trying to verify her claims,” DCP Singh said.
The incident took an amusing turn Monday when, speaking to mediapersons outside the Daryaganj police station, Pankaj blamed his wife for everything that happened Sunday. At the time, according to the Aaj Tak reporter he spoke to, Abha was being questioned inside the station.
“She doesn’t let me wear masks,” he told the reporter, claiming that they had been arguing through the entire car ride Sunday over the same thing.
“I always wear masks when she is not around. My wife was provoking me. I haven’t abused police, she did it. I had warned her throughout to wear masks,” he said.
In the video, however, Pankaj is also seen arguing with police.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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