With body cam turned off, Bengaluru traffic cop in soup for stopping rider

A traffic constable from the HSR Layout police station faces a departmental inquiry as he didn’t switch on his body-worn camera while stopping vehicles.

A motorcyclist clicked the constable’s photo near RMZ Ecospace on July 15 and posted it on Twitter, suggesting the policeman had stopped his two-wheeler merely to check documents in clear violation of standing orders from the police top brass.

The Twitter user tagged State Police Chief Praveen Sood, Bengaluru City Police Chief C H Pratap Reddy and other senior police officers.

In a Twitter post in late June, Sood had reiterated that no vehicle shall be stopped only for checking documents unless there is a traffic violation visible to the naked eye. The only exception is drunk driving, he added. Reddy issued similar instructions later.

Taking note of the motorcyclist’s tweet, Reddy directed the traffic police chief, B R Ravikanthe Gowda, to look into the allegation.

A preliminary inquiry by Kala Krishnaswamy, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic, East), showed that the constable had not switched on his body-worn camera while stopping the two-wheeler.

Cop’s line of defence

In his defence, the constable told the higher-ups that he stopped the two-wheeler because the pillion rider wasn’t wearing a helmet. But he had no answer when asked why he didn’t file a case.

“It is verified. Body-worn camera was not in recording mode. Departmental action is initiated. It is reiterated that no one will be stopped for document verification,” Gowda tweeted on Monday.