Chennai: Depressed over the abuse and assault by traffic cops, a 23-year-old cab driver attempted suicide by immolating self in broad daylight near Thiruvanmiyur on Wednesday. The cab driver, Manikandan of Tambaram, was earlier fined by the traffic cops for not wearing uniform and seat belt.
Around 11.30 am, Manikandan was driving towards Taramani when his red SUV was flagged by the cops. He was pulled up for not wearing uniform and the seat belt and made to pay a fine amount of Rs 100.
The policemen involved were identified as sub-inspector Thamaraiselvan and policemen Manikandan and Vijayakumar.
After paying the fine, Manikandan had attempted to record a video of the traffic cops collecting fine from motorists when the situation went out of control.
The cops seized his mobile phone and licence and abused him. According to Manikandan’s friend, Suresh, the cops told to take videos of the women of his household, which infuriated him. Suresh met Manikandan at the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital where the latter is undergoing treatment when he narrated the sequence of events.
Manikandan and the cops exchanged abuses after which the cops reportedly detained him at a police booth nearby and thrashed him. The driver then went to a fuel station nearby and immolated self.
Onlookers rushed to his aid and secured him and put him into a vehicle. Even as his body was charred, Manikandan recorded a video in which he narrated the abuse by the policemen. He was moved to the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital where he is undergoing treatment at the burns ward there.
Hospital authorities said that the man suffered about 60 per cent burn injuries on his torso. City police commissioner A.K. Viswanathan visited the injured driver at the hospital.
A native of Panavadalichatram village near Sankarankovil in Tirunelveli district, Manikandan was staying with his sister Jagadeeswari’s family near Tambaram. “He usually stays in the cab itself and visits home only once or twice a week,” said Suresh, a friend who met him in the burns ward. Traffic was affected on Rajiv Gandhi Salai after several call taxi drivers and public staged a protest demanding action against the cops. Members of the call taxi drivers union gathered at KMCH and alleged that harassment by traffic cops are a constant.
“Sithamaraiselvan has been transferred to vacancy reserve. We have initiated a departmental inquiry into the case and have recommended action against the traffic cops if it is found that they had erred,” a senior police officer said.
