Iranian women attack cop, mediamen

Azar Fazle Khode (28) and Farimah alias Fathima (26) were produced before the 11th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Mayo Hall on Thursday and the magistrate remanded them to judicial custody till March 4.

Azar Fazle Khode, Farimah and a few of their friends partied at a pub on Brigade Road till late Wednesday night. While returning home in a car, they tried to speed away on seeing the Shivaji Nagar traffic police on Cubbon Road, who were checking for drunken driving. The police subjected them to alcometre test which revealed 59 mg alcohol in their blood, which was almost twice the permissible limit of 30 mg. They failed to produce driving licence and registration certificate (RC book) when asked by the police. Both of them raised voice and slapped the cop Ganesh Rao. They even bit his hand.

There was high drama when the duo were taken to Commercial Street police station. They tried to assault the police and refused to cooperate during the interrogation. The girls snatched the cameras of a few media persons who were covering the incident.
Separate cases have been booked against the two for attacking a policeman on duty and another for assaulting media persons and damaging their equipment. They can be imprisoned up to two years besides fine for damaging the equipment if found guilty, police said.

Azar Fazle Khode is a BSc student in Dayananda Sagar College while Fathima is pursuing MBA in BMS College. Both are staying as paying guests in Sanjaynagar.

A top police official said: "Foreign nationals occasionally pick up quarrels with the night patrolling police. But, attacking policemen on duty is a rare incident. The Iranian girls' incident assumes significance as they attacked the policeman on duty besides attacking the media representatives. Attacking policemen on duty is a serious offence. The girls were completely out of control and were unaware what they were doing."

Jinxed stretch

The Cubbon Road stretch seems to be a jinxed one for the traffic cops. A few days ago, a tipsy Anglo-Indian couple picked up a quarrel with the police and created ruckus. Arun Kumar, an inspector attached to Shivajinagar traffic police station, was mowed down a four-wheeler on the road, in March 2006.

The vehicle driver was fully drunk when the incident took place. It is also a tailor-made stretch for wheeling and drag racing.