Journalism of Courage
In the first such conviction in the city,the Khadki court has sentenced a 22-year-old youth,Dipak Subhash Lokhande,to two-year rigorous imprisonment for manhandling a traffic cop on duty and tearing his uniform in July 2008.
This has boosted the morale of the traffic control branch of the Pune police as it has come at a time when attacks on traffic policemen on duty are on the rise. In the last one month itself,eight incidents were recorded where on-duty traffic policemen were assaulted by citizens.
Pande then lodged a complaint against Lokhande and Savant under Section 353 (causing a disturbance in government work),335 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt on provocation) of IPC and Section 184,177 of the Motor Vehicle Act.
The trial went on for about two years at Khadki court. On July 17,judicial magistrate (first class) Renuka Satav convicted Lokhande and sentenced him to two- year rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 1,100. The court,however,acquitted co-accused Savant. Police sub-inspector V T Palekar carried out investigations. Public prosecutor M A Jamadar said the court examined five witnesses in this case.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic) Manoj Patil said,In my knowledge,this is the first time that the court has convicted a person for attacking a traffic cop on duty. It is good news for us. Citizens would now understand that they cannot get away with hitting a traffic cop on duty, Patil said.
