Worli ruckus: Traffic DCP shunted out
CM Devendra Fadnavis had apologised after city police failed to manage the ruckus which caused inconvenience to thousands of commuters
MUMBAI: A senior-rank police officer was transferred following the inquiry into the ruckus outside a city club where policemen jostled with members to prevent their entry during a function attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Keshav Patil had been transferred to Mumbai police headquarters, official sources said on Friday evening. According to sources, report of the inquiry, submitted to Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria by Additional Police Commissioner R D Shinde, says the police could have handled the situation better. Last Sunday, traffic policemen at the NSCI Club in Worli stopped private vehicles to make way for the Chief Minister's convoy. Video footage showed them grappling with some of the club members, including an elderly person.
The inquiry that was conducted by the additional commissioner of police (Central Region), R D Shinde into the incident of traffic mismanagement near the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) in Worli has led to the transfer of the deputy commissioner of police (Traffic), City, Keshav Patil.
In addition, the report has also indicted policemen for their behaviour on Sunday evening and suggested changes in how the VIP security is managed, a source from Mumbai police said.
The report was submitted by Shinde to commissioner of police, Rakesh Maria on Thursday evening. However, he refused to reveal the details of the report. The inquiry had been ordered by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the police had been notified about it on Sunday night itself.
The transfer of Patil was confirmed by the joint commissioner of police (Traffic) B K Upadhyay. “Patil has been transferred to Headquarter II,” Upadhyay said. Repeated attempts to contact Maria failed.
According to a source in the Mumbai police, the report concluded that the situation that night could have been handled by the cops, who were engaged in bandobast, better.
On Sunday evening, when Fadnavis had gone to attend the function at NSCI, there had been a clash between the cops and a couple of members of the club, as the former did not let the latter enter the club. In addition, the CM’s convoy had also caused a traffic jam between the Worli end of the Bandra Worli Sea Link and Worli Naka and Atria Mall – causing inconvenience to thousands of commuters. The traffic jam had lasted for over one-and-a-half hour that night.
What had added to the chaos was that there was another function going on at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse, and there were many other commuters going to Haji Ali and Mahalaxmi temple too.
After the incident, the CM had given an apology on Sunday night, on the social networking website, Twitter, saying, “I would make (an) inquiry into the NSCI incidence. It is unfortunate that people are put to such trouble. My sincere apologies to those who were stopped by police unnecessarily. People in the state have always seen me stopping at traffic signals. I don’t believe in VIP culture. Unless there is (an) emergency or real threat perception inputs police shouldn't trouble the people,” Fadnavis had said on Twitter.