Actor accuses cops of high-handedness

Bollywood actor Ranvir Shorey took to Twitter to express his ire about his car being stopped at Jogeshwari and impounded by the traffic police on Wednesday, alleging that the incident took place when his house help was on his way to a hospital as the latter’s wife was giving birth. According to Shorey's tweets, the car was seized and his driver was detained.

However, the Mumbai Traffic Police vehemently refuted the allegation, and said the house help’s wife had delivered last week, and that the police action was initiated after the actor's driver was found at fault for venturing out without any emergency.

Tagging the Mumbai Police, Shorey tweeted, "My car being impounded for taking my household help for his wife’s delivery to hospital. Officer in charge says a child being delivered is not an emergency.”

This was followed by a series of tweets in which Shorey accused a policeman of highhandedness and harassment by impounding his car and registering a First Information Report (FIR) against the driver.

When contacted, a senior traffic police officer flatly denied the allegations. The officer said that the house help's wife had delivered the baby and was discharged last week, following which the actor had sent his driver to pick up his house help, and that this did not qualify as an `emergency’.

For impounding his car; cops refute claim that the driver ventured out for an 'emergency’

The senior officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "We have diligently followed the protocol and since the driver was caught ferrying the house help for a non-emergency reason, we impounded the car. What the actor has been ranting on social media is completely not true.”

The incident took place just a day af ter the Mumbai Traffic Police had impounded 4,300 vehicles in a massive drive against motorists venturing out unnecessarily. On Wednesday, however, vehicular movement and traffic seemed to have eased during peak hours, said police. While a little congestion was reported on the Western Express Highway and Eastern Express Highway, it was soon cleared by the traffic police.

A senior traffic police offer said that on Tuesday, in a city wide drive against errant motorists who were found driving or riding unnecessarily, the police impounded 1,727 autorickshaws, 360 taxis, 1,150 motorcycles and 1,057 cars. Clarifying that there has been no relaxation of lockdown rules regarding vehicular movement in Mumbai, the officer said, “No person is allowed to use vehicles unless it is for transporting essential goods. If any citizen wants to buy essential goods, then he should go walking. No rickshaws or taxis are allowed to ply.”