Cabbies, shopkeepers block road as DSP thrashes 2 drivers

Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 5

Seeking action against the DSP (Traffic) for thrashing two youths, taxi drivers and shopkeepers blocked the road along the Old Bus Stand last night. The protesters alleged that the DSP was under the influence of liquor. The police had to resort to a mild lathicharge to disperse the mob.

The taxi drivers parked their vehicles in the middle of the road and raised slogans against the police. They said if the drivers had parked their vehicles in a no-parking zone, the official could have issued them a challan instead of beating them up mercilessly.

One of the taxi drivers, Pawan Kumar from Chandigarh, was thrashed near the Victory Tunnel while he was dropping two passengers and the other was brutally beaten up at the local bus stand.

“I had parked the taxi along the road. DSP (Traffic) Amit Thakur came towards the car, smashed the windowpanes and started beating me up,” the victim, who is from Mandi, said. He added that the DSP dragged him to the control room and thrashed him with sticks.

The DSP was under the influence of liquor. He was stopped by passersby from beating up the cab driver, said Anshul, an eyewitness.

“I heard the screams of the youth and rushed there. The driver was bleeding profusely. He could not even walk,” said a shopkeeper. The protesters said the duty of the police was to maintain law and order and not to take law in their hands.

The DSP, who was inside the control room, tried to escape. He said he was only maintaining law and order.

He said an Alto car (HP 01M 0865) was parked in the middle of the road and when he asked the driver to move the vehicle, the driver started abusing him and tore his uniform. The DSP said he also suffered injuries on his right hand and other parts of the body.

The taxi driver has been booked under Sections 353, 332, 341, 504 and 34 of the IPC. In another complaint, Pawan Kumar, who suffered head and arm injuries, said around 9.30 pm, the police abused and thrashed him. A case has been registered under Sections 341, 323 and 504 of the IPC.

Nikhil and Sumit, residents of Totu, who had come to the bus stand to get food, complained that they too were beaten up with sticks.

Shimla SP DW Negi said FIRs had been lodged. The taxi operators today met the Deputy Commissioner and demanded suspension of the DSP. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident.