KL DESK
SRINAGAR
Displaying what could be termed as the nastiest display of behaviour, the traffic cops manning busy Qamarwari Chowk in summer capital roughed up the photo chief of Kashmir Life in broad day light for reason unknown to him.
Bilal Bahadur was on way to Pattan on assignment when his bike was halted by the cops. When asked for the reason, the irate cop with masked face badmouthed with the photojournalist.
“As I reached the main Chowk,” recalls Bahadur, who returned office with aching body after being pounced by a pack of cops, “a traffic cop with masked face stopped me saying, ‘rokya, downtown-e-kya!’ (stop, you downtowner!).” Hearing this, Bahadur pulls over his bike and sought explanation from the cop about his racist remark.
“Well before I could finish, he started beating me up along with other three cops,” Bahadur says. “It was my good luck that civilians saved me and took me away.” Bahadur terms the cop assault nasty and brute. “If they can whip up a newsman like this, one can only imagine their treatment with commoners.”
When told about his cops’ nasty behaviour, the SSP traffic, Maqsood ul Zaman termed the incident “unfortunate and uncalled for”.
“The scribe should file an FIR against the erring cops,” Zaman told Kashmir Life. “But having said that, I will look into the matter myself to ensure that such distasteful acts won’t be repeated.”
