Editor,
I was shocked and anguished at being beaten up by a traffic police on November 28, last. At about 8:40 pm on that fateful day I was driving towards the City Dhaba Hotel (dropping some stranded tourists) I was called a “bloody fool” and stopped by a gentleman for entering the ‘One Way Road’. I was about to turn back when another man who accompanied the gentleman asked me to moved ahead. So I stopped at the side leaving enough space for vehicles to move. In the meanwhile there was another man (seemed to be a taxi driver) begging for something from the gentleman. As I was observing the incident three traffic policemen appeared and enquired what I had done. The gentleman informed about the error I committed. I apologized. Then one of the traffic policemen asked me to pay a fine then and there. I agreed to pay the fine. While I was reaching for my purse I overheard him reporting to the control room that I had caused the traffic jam. To this I disagreed saying the jam had been there even before I arrived. But before I could complete my sentence he assaulted me viciously. It was unbearable so I moved aside and asked him how he dared do that. But he would not stop assaulting me. He grabbed me by my neck and strangulated me and hit me on the wall of my vehicle. I felt suffocated. The stink of the alcohol from his mouth worsened my pain. Somehow I managed to free myself from his hand. I immediately ran to the Sadar Police Station and filed an FIR against the traffic police leaving my vehicle there as a proof. While I wait for the action to be taken by the authorities I would like the traffic department to remember that (1) the ultimate objective of their job is satisfaction and happiness of the public (2) Smooth flow of traffic is only one step towards achieving that. No one can make the public happy at the expense of violating human rights. Otherwise, you are not better than the insurgents/militants.
(3) Traffic flow is disrupted when a vehicle is stopped in the middle of the road and a policeman asks for money (4) Traffic police cannot pocket the fine without a slip or receipt because this would not be different from extortion by the militants. As of now let me wait and see how fast justice can be obtained in Meghalaya.
Yours etc.,
P Lunthang
Shillong -3