A footage showing a man publicly beating up a female traffic cop surfaced on Friday.
In the video, the man, who supposedly belongs to Shiv Sena, is seen thrashing the policewoman in Thane. The accused, who has been identified as Shashikant Kalgude 44, a residence of Tulsidham, Dharmaveer Nagar in Thane owns a Vada Pav stall, is believed to be member of Shiv Sena party and has been arrested.
Senior Police Inspector M Bagga, Naupada police station, said, “We have arrested him for assaulting a woman police constable. A case was registered in the afternoon and he was produced in court on Thursday afternoon and court has remanded to police custody for a day. The woman has suffered injuries on her nose.”
Kalgude was talking on phone while driving an SUV when he was spotted by the female cop. She signalled him to stop. However, the SUV driver tried to ran away, but the constable stood before his vehicle and prevented its further movement.
“When the constable asked him to show his driving licence and vehicle documents, Kalgude started abusing her. He then slapped and punched her so hard that her nose started bleeding,” an officer from the Naupada police station said.
An eye-witness advocate Pratik Pawar, while narrating the entire episode, said that Kalgude was holding the female constable by the collar and slapping her repeatedly. He was also hurling derogatory remarks at her.
The woman constable was accompanied by a home guard at the junction. “I along with four more people caught hold of the accused and informed the police,” said Pawar.
“The attack left her bleeding by nose,” said Police PRO Gajanan Kabdule on Thursday night.
Kalgude has been booked under sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 354 (molestation) of the Indian Penal Code.
However, Shiv Sena on Friday distanced itself from a person, saying “the party has nothing to do” with the attack.
“Absolutely nothing to do with the party at all, (it) doesn’t endorse (the assault),” Shiv Sena’s youth wing Yuva Sena president and grandson of the party’s founder Bal Thackeray, Aaditya Thackeray said.
“Office bearer or not, doesn’t endorse the shameful act,” Aaditya tweeted about the incident.
