JOIN USA Court of Inquiry has been ordered by the army to ferret out details of a brawl between two officers and policemen late Tuesday and the subsequent clash between military police and Pune civil police.
By late Wednesday evening both the army and civil police were busy trying to slap cases against each other of assaulting public servants on duty.
According to a defence official, two traffic cops including a woman constable stopped two
young army officers from College of Military Engineering (CME) Capt V Advait and Lt A B Pandit, riding a motorbike, while they were trying to cross Sambhaji Bridge.
The contention of army officials was that both officers were unaware of the fact that two-wheelers were not allowed on the bridge as there was no prominent signpost proclaiming the traffic order.
“Even though the army officers introduced themselves and stated that they were unaware of the rule, the woman constable snatched the ignition key from the bike while her male companion started abusing Capt Advait demanding that they pay the fine,” according army officials.
Captain Advait in his statement said that while he had agreed to pay the fine, “the male constable kept on with his rant and tried to rough him up, stating that he was also once roughed up in cantonment area for not wearing a helmet.” Preliminary investigations reveal that the constable as well as the army officer made calls to their respective seniors and mates.
At the police station, even as police were trying to frame charges against Capt Advait and Lt. Pandit, Corps of Military Police (CMP) along with the CME seniors stormed in and soon a free for all ensued.
While the police claimed that CMP soldiers smashed and roughed up several policemen in the station, the army officials said that the law-enforcing agency tipped off media persons to gain a sympathetic news coverage.