Constable’s Tiff With Bhavani Devotees

Vijayawada:The NTR Police Commissionerate has claimed on Monday that its police personnel demonstrated restraint, patience and discipline despite “abuse and repeated provocation” by some Bhavani devotees in the city.

In a statement, the police said a constable riding his bike noticed that an auto rickshaw was carrying an “unsafe number” of Bhavani devotees and young children.

The statement said, “The constable issued necessary safety instructions to the driver and the passengers. The passengers started abusing the constable. He remained composed but as he insisted on following the safety norms, some passengers in the auto rickshaw came out and removed the key from his bike, manhandled him causing injuries and snatched and damaged his mobile phone while he was trying to document the incident.”

The constable, it said, informed the traffic personnel at Benz Circle. “Despite asking the auto rickshaw to stop, it continued to move and it was subsequently intercepted near Screw Bridge. The devotees staged a road-block protest and some devotees continued abusing the police personnel and even attempted to assault one of them.”

The injured police constable was referred to a hospital for medical examination.

The police said an inquiry would be held. Legal proceedings would be initiated against all those involved in the incident as per norms.