Elephant runs amok near Rajghat, policeman too loses cool

 An elephant ran amok in central Delhi on Friday afternoon creating panic for around two hours.  

Nobody was hurt but the episode led to the suspension of a constable after he slapped a newspaper photographer at th scene.

The tusker was in front of the gates of Raj Ghat when he turned violent at around 11.45 am. Eyewitnesses claim the elephant panicked after a chain tied around his leg got stuck on an iron grill. After a brief struggle, the elephant went on a rampage.

“The elephant uprooted two trees and broke iron grills of a bus stand near Raj Ghat. It also destroyed the signboard at Raj Ghat,” a police officer said.

The mahouts, with the help of police, took nearly two hours to bring the elephant under control. Police used water cannons on the elephant, while traffic was also diverted in the area.

Scribe manhandled

The incident also led to a controversy when a photographer of The Tribune newspaper, Manas Ranjan Bhui, was manhandled and slapped by a Delhi Police constable, while he was clicking photographs of the elephant.

Sandeep Twetia, posted with Desh Bandhu Gupta Road police station, has been suspended. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Alok Kumar also apologised to the photographer. 

“Such a thing should not have happened. We are sorry for it,” Kumar said to Manas.Kumar further said Assistant Commissioner of Police (Public Grievances) J K Sharma will conduct an inquiry into the incident. “Departmental action will be taken against the constable,” he said.

The photographer claimed that he did not provoke the policeman. Video clips of the incident show the policeman grabbing his collar and slapping him across the face. The policeman claimed he was asking the photographer to move away, but he was engrossed in taking pictures and quarrelled with police.