All in good humour? Row over Gadkari cartoon by Chhattisgarh traffic police

Raipur: A controversial cartoon circulated by the traffic police in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district parodied what looked like Union transports and highways minister Nitin Gadkari for riding scooter without wearing helmet, causing acute embarrassment to the state BJP government here.

“We have placed the traffic inspector Vinod Katlam under suspension and served showcause notice to DSP (traffic) N.K. Sahu,” Raigarh district in-charge SP, T.R. Kochima said.

The cartoon was widely circulated in Raigarh by the traffic police to create awareness about safe driving on the occasion of road safety week.

The cartoon depicts a look alike of Mr Gadkari riding a scooter with the helmet flying off. A two-line message in Hindi in the poster read, “If you want to enjoy ride, wear helmet.”

It appeared as if the cartoonist was inspired by the controversy sparked over Gadkari riding a scooter without helmet to RSS headquarters at Nagpur on October 14 last year.