A traffic police inspector and his subordinates are in the dock after assaulting an MLA’s aide in Shivajinagar over clearing footpath hawkers on Saturday.
While the MLA’s aide, identified as Mohammed Sadiq, is adamant on lodging a complaint against Shivajinagar traffic police station inspector Edwin Pradeep and his men, senior police officials have ordered an inquiry.
The confrontation between the aide and the cops began around 12.30 pm and continued until late evening at the Shivajinagar law and order police station on Broadway street.
Speaking to DH, Sadiq said the inspector assaulted him because he did not personally approach him to retain permission for street vendors to keep their stalls on the footpath for St Mary’s feast near St Basilica’s church in Shivajinagar.
“I had approached the additional commissioner’s office and the DCP Traffic (East) seeking permission for footpath vendors that they could run their business for five days during the feast time.
This is nothing unusual and we do this every year at the behest of our MLA R Roshan Baig who allows poor hawkers to earn a few bucks,” said Sadiq.
When Sadiq heard that the traffic police deputed to manage the vehicle movement around the church started clearing the hawkers, he and his associates rushed to the spot and showed the permission letter.
Inspector Edwin Pradeep said he was only following high court directions not to let hawkers use the corporation space for their business. After heated arguments, Sadiq dropped the name of the MLA and hurled abuses at the policemen.
The inspector and eight to 10 other men assaulted Sadiq, his aide Sathish and two others with helmets and canes, dragged them to a junction near the Shivajinagar police station from where they went in an auto-rickshaw.
Soon after the incident, several SUVs zoomed into the police station in support of the MLA’s men.
They claimed that they were heads of organisations such as Dalit Sangh Samiti (DSS), Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), human rights wings and even pourakarmikas, who staged a sit-in protest before the police station against the police high-handedness.
“We have ordered an inquiry into the accident. Inquiries so far revealed the incident escalated as a man who claimed to be social worker used unparliamentary words against a uniformed police officer who was doing his duty,” said a senior police officer.
