Thaindian News

Lucknow, Sep 3 (IANS) Three traffic constables have been suspended in Uttar Pradesh for assaulting a woman police officer and dragging her over a distance while fleeing in their car after she caught them extorting money, police said Friday.
The three constables, who are yet to be arrested, roughed up Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Kalpana Saxena late Thursday evening after she caught them extorting money from truck drivers near a crossing in Bareilly, some 300 km from Lucknow.

“The three police constables have been placed under suspension with immediate effect. Efforts are on to nab them,” Deputy Inspector General of Police (Bareilly) N.K. Srivastava told IANS on telephone.

Saxena, who received multiple injuries when the three cops tried to flee in their car, dragging her over a distance, is being treated at a hospital.

“She (Saxena) is out of danger now,” Dharmendra Chauhan, station house officer (SHO) of the cantonment police station, told IANS by telephone from Bareilly.

“The SP (Traffic) in her statement has said the three constables even tried to knock her down with the car in which they escaped. A case under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty) and 333 (attempt to murder), has been registered against the three policemen,” he added.

According to police, acting on a tip-off that the traffic constables were extorting money from truck drivers along the Lucknow-Bareilly Highway, Saxena reached the spot and found the three constables accepting money.

“As Saxena approached the cops to question them, they assaulted her and tried to escape in a car. She managed to catch one of the cops by his collar, following which the other two constables inside the car pulled up the window pane of the vehicle, as a result the SP’s hand got stuck in the window,” Chauhan said.

“The three dragged her for over two kilometres in that position and managed to escape, leaving her injured on the road,” he added.