Commissioner denies misuse of police vehicle during Waqf protest in Mangaluru, cites medical emergency

Mangaluru: Following the broadcast of a video clipping in visual media alleging that a vehicle belonging to the police was used by the protesters who staged a demonstration against Waqf Amendment Act at Shah Garden Grounds near Adyar Kannur in Mangaluru city on April 18, Commissioner of Police Anupam Agrawal clarified that the vehicle was used to shift an injured minor boy to the hospital.

The Commissioner said that ACP of the Traffic Sub-Division, who was on traffic regulation duty, arrived at the event venue from the Padil side in the departmental vehicle. After alighting, she was managing traffic control near the main gate. Once the event was over, the ACP instructed her driver to take a U-turn near Adyar Katte and return, after crossing the road median, to head towards Mangaluru city for further traffic control management. Due to barricades placed near Adyar Katte, the vehicle driver, Bairegowda, was proceeding towards the Sahyadri side to take a U turn.

Shortly before that, around 7:30 pm near Adyar Garden, a tempo traveller driver, driving at high speed and negligently, hit a 16-year-old boy who was returning after the protest event. The vehicle's wheel ran over the boy’s right foot, causing injuries, and a crowd gathered at the scene. Two female police personnel on duty nearby, along with the injured boy’s associates, stopped the ACP’s vehicle and used it to send the injured boy for medical treatment. The injured was then admitted to a private hospital.

The tempo traveller driver was handed over to the Mangaluru South Traffic Police Station by a staff member named Anand. A case has been registered and an investigation is under way.

The commissioner said at the time of the accident, due to heavy traffic caused by the event on the highway, the two female police officers on duty used the ACP's vehicle, which arrived at that moment, to promptly take the injured boy to the hospital for treatment. Providing first aid during the "golden hour" is a primary duty of the police, said the Commissioner.

The video clipping has gone viral on social media.