Srinagar, June 10: Traffic policemen allegedly assaulted a senior journalist and his wife at Regal Chowk on Saturday.
Local news agency CNS said the traffic cops stopped the vehicle of videographer of Associated Press (AP) Mehrajuddin and asked him to show its documents.
Quoting Mehrajuddin, the CNS said the traffic policeman asked him unrelated questions and slapped him without any provocation. Seeing this, his wife disembarked from the vehicle, however, she was stopped by the traffic policemen who allegedly tore her clothes. Irked by the behavior of the traffic police, the pedestrians caught hold of the traffic policeman. Mehrajuddin contacted SSP Traffic and narrated the incident to him.
In the meantime, other journalists reached the spot to inquire about the matter. But the police misled them saying the cop was critically wounded in the incident and succumbed to his injuries.
The CNS said the cop was resting in the Police Station Kothi Bagh and police spread the rumors of his death to divert the attention of the people.
“The false statements by the responsible police officers shows the harassment by the police has reached its height, causing more trouble to the common people,†the CNS said.
Later the journalists staged a sit-in to protest against the incident, at the Bakshi Stadium during the inaugural ceremony of a football tournament. On the occasion, the Director General of Police (DGP) Gopal Sharma and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Srinagar pacified the journalists and assured them of taking action against the two accused traffic policemen.
