Anna Hazare’s fight against corruption seems to have empowered the common man. A 27-year-old professional working with a leading IT firm in the western suburbs went out of his way to see that action could be taken against policemen for flouting traffic rules.
Though he brought the incident to the notice of senior policemen, no action was taken against the traffic rule violators yet. He was told to give the complaint in writing.
The incident took place on Friday afternoon on the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road when Raju Pillai, a resident of Powai, was driving to his office in Goregaon. He saw two people riding on a bike where the pillion rider was wearing a raincoat with Mumbai Police written on it. The rider had a helmet, but he was not wearing it.
“I drove close to the bike and asked them whether they were policemen. The duo replied that they were cops. The person riding pillion was wearing a traffic police uniform, while the other was in plain clothes,” said Pillai. “When I asked the duo whether they were not supposed to wear the helmet, the two took offence. The duo told me to mind my business and not teach them law,” he added.
The two cops then asked Pillai to leave from the place. Pillai went to Goregaon traffic police chowky. After half an hour, an officer named ASI Badgujar met Pillai. When Pillai told him the story, Badgujar called for constable Anne. “Anne started shouting at me. Badgujar also supported him,” said Pillai, adding that “Badgujar asked me to give in writing whatever grievance I had and they would then see what could be done”.
Senior police inspector RM Thakur said: “I have no knowledge about this incident. The law is same for all, be it a policeman or anyone else. And if they are at fault, action should be taken against them.”
Pillai left the chowky, but did not leave the battle mid way. He has written a complaint online about the incident to the commissioner of police and joint commissioner of police (Traffic).
