Traffic cop assaults tyre shop worker

Ahmedabad: A traffic constable allegedly threatened and assaulted a worker at a tyre repair shop in a petrol pump while refusing to pay for the service. The incident, involving Chintan Pandya, 34, a constable with B Division traffic police, took place in South Bopal on Sunday afternoon. According to the complaint filed by the worker, Junaid Ansari, 26, Pandya arrived in an SUV to get air filled in the tyres. After inspecting the vehicle, Ansari informed Pandya that one of the rear tyres had a puncture. This led to an altercation. "Pandya accused me of intentionally inserting a nail into his tyre. He began hurling abuses and slapped me in front of others," Ansari stated in his complaint. Pandya allegedly identified himself as a police officer and stormed into the office of the shop owner, retired deputy superintendent of police (DySP) J T Chudasama. The situation escalated when Pandya started shouting at Chudasama and used offensive language. Despite attempts to pacify him, he continued to threaten both Ansari and his employer. Witnesses gathered to defuse the situation. Ansari completed the puncture repair, but Pandya refused to pay. "When I asked for the repair charges, he said, ‘I am a policeman. We don't pay.' He then warned me that if I tried this trick again, he would kill me," Ansari alleged. Bopal inspector B T Gohil said that a probe has been initiated. "Pandya has a controversial history and was suspended twice in the past for assault-related misconduct," he said. Bopal police booked Pandya under the charges of causing hurt, using abusive words and criminal intimidation under sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.