Phagwara SHO suspended for kicking cart of veggie vendor

JALANDHAR: Punjab director general of police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta has placed Phagwara station house officer (SHO) Navdeep Singh under suspension with immediate effect. A video of Navdeep, kicking a basket of vegetables of street vendor in the city, went social on Wednesday morning. Kapurthala senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kanwardeep Kaur issued formal suspension orders of Navdeep, and, later, transfer to police lines, Kapurthala.

The incident occurred on the Sarai Road where a large number of vegetable and fruit vendor shops were present, when police went to check on violations of Covid-19 norms. The SHO got furious and kicked the vendor’s cart, which overturned. The video on the incident invited sharp criticism of the police from social media platforms.

A twitter user Khushpreet Brar tweeted, “A shameful act by a Phagwara police officer. This is inhuman, as everyone deserves respect. Poor vendors are risking their lives for their bread and butter, not for fun. He

should be suspended, this is intolerable.”

Replying to Brar, Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta tweeted, “Absolutely shameful and unacceptable. I have suspended the Phagwara SHO. Such misbehaviour will not be tolerated at any cost and those who indulge in it will have to face serious consequences.”

Kapurthala SSP Kanwardeep Kaur said, “As member of a disciplined force, such behaviour is against service rules and is unwarranted. A departmental inquiry has also been initiated against him.” She added that officers of Kapurthala Police have contributed money to compensate the vegetable vendor.