Mumbai: Man jumps signal, hits traffic constable after being stopped

Traffic constable Sanjay Vadke stopped the accused

Breaking a traffic signal wasn't enough for this 25-year-old man who went on to beat up the traffic constable who apprehending him. The Vakola police on Sunday arrested Mohammed Kaleem Sheikh for allegedly assaulting and abusing a traffic constable who confronted him for breaking the signal at Razaq junction on the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR) in Santacruz East.

While the constable chased the accused for a while, he was later detained from Chheda Nagar junction in Chembur by a beat marshal based on details shared by the control room.
With such incidents on the rise, Madhukar Pandey, joint commissioner of traffic police said that the department is set to give body cameras to its constables. Traffic constable Sanjay Vadke, attached to Kurla division, was deployed at Razaq junction along with another traffic warden on Saturday. Around 7 pm, while the signal for traffic moving towards BKC-Kurla was green, the accused, driving from Kalina towards Chembur broke the signal. When he was stopped by constable Vadke and the traffic warden and questioned, Sheikh used abusive language.

Accused was driving towards Chembur when he jumped signal on SCLR. Representation pic

"Vadke took photographs of Sheikh and his car and asked him to alight from the car," said a traffic police officer of the Kurla traffic division, adding, "An angry Sheikh got out of his car and asked the constable why he had clicked pictures of his car. He then punched the constable and continued to use abusive language. The walkie talkie that Vadke was holding also fell down in the tussle."

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"The other person sitting in the car also came out to intervene. However, the two soon sat in the car and tried to escape. Despite the constable and traffic warden standing in front of his car, he kept driving and escaped from the location. The traffic warden and constable took the help of some bikers at the spot and chased the car till Chembur but couldn't trace him owing to heavy traffic," said the officer. The two returned to Razaq junction and informed the traffic control room. "Beat marshal Manohar Patil from Vakola police station spotted the vehicle near Chheda Nagar junction in Chembur around 8.05 pm and took the accused to the Tilak Nagar police station. After verifying all the details, he was handed over to Vakola police," the officer added.

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Body cameras

Joint traffic commissioner Pandey told mid-day that traffic constables are often attacked for doing their duty. "To capture such incidents and make a water tight case against violators, we will be getting 200 body cameras for traffic constables in the next two weeks. This will not only helps us record such incidents but also making our case stronger because in most cases, the accused gets benefit of doubt. Once we have video proof, it can help us get conviction," he said, adding, "It will also help create evidence of other accident cases, sometimes fatal."

Sent to judicial custody

The accused is a college student and resides in Kalina, the police informed. He was arrested under section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 504 (intentional insult), 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the motor vehicle act. "We are investigating the matter further," said Kailashchandra Avhad, senior PI at Vakola police station. The accused was produced before Bandra holiday magistrate court on Sunday and he was sent to judicial custody till August 22.

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