BJP functionary, cop arrested for assaulting man over road rage incident
CHENNAI: City Police on Friday arrested a BJP functionary and his father, and a police constable for assaulting a man, after a road rage incident near Santhome on Thursday. The incident happened in full public view with two traffic policemen not intervening during the incident.
Based on a complaint by the victim, M Manivannan (36), Foreshore Estate Police registered a case and arrested the trio- S Karthik Raja (30) - District secretary (Tiruvottiyur east) of TN BJP Economics cell, his father, Sudalaiyandi (50), and Gopinath (54), an Armed Reserve (AR) constable. The video of the brazen assault went viral on social media drawing strong condemnation from the public, especially of the traffic cops who did not intervene.
On Thursday evening, Manivannan along with his niece was travelling to his restaurant on OMR when the incident happened. When his car was moving near South canal bank road- Loop Road junction, Manivannan had allegedly honked which had enraged the accused who were in the vehicle in front of him.
When the vehicles halted at the traffic signal, the accused got out of their vehicle and picked up an argument with Manivannan and pulled him out of his car and assaulted him.
According to the complainant, one of the accused used a key in between his fist and punched him continuously causing injuries and stripped him off his shirt. He was treated for his injuries after which he filed a police complaint.
While the AR constable, Gopinath, has been placed under suspension, a departmental enquiry has been initiated against the traffic policemen seen in the video. The arrested trio were produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody.