Medchal traffic police manhandle driver, trouble vendors

Hyderabad: The Medchal traffic police reportedly manhandled a lorry driver for parking his vehicle on the roadside. The issue took place at Gandi Maisamma Chowrasta on Thursday. A video clip that surfaced on social media showed Medchal sub-inspector Yadagiri and his team using abusive language and assaulting the lorry driver despite the latter explaining that his vehicle had a technical problem.

Protesting the incident, the drivers' union staged a protest in front of the Jeedimetla traffic police station, demanding strict action against the officers involved. “We demand immediate and strict action against the officers who assaulted our fellow driver,” said Ravi, a driver participating in the protest.

The police conduct also attracted criticism on social media. “It is not that this happened now, it is an everyday scenario. When I was stopped for a traffic violation, the constable was downright rude in asking for my driving license, so I pointed to the dash cam and told him his behaviour was being recorded and I would only produce my license once he adopted proper manners. Then his superior officer came to me, apologised and let me proceed without further questions,” said Prashanth Vinnakota in his post on X. What if the incident was not recorded, wondered another X user Meenakshi Khandadi. “Now, the driver has protections. We need to record incidents like this in order to protect ourselves with such officers,” she said.

Director General of Police Dr Jitender responded to the incident stating that any misconduct by police officers would be thoroughly investigated. "The incident occurred within the jurisdiction of the Cyberabad Jeedimetla traffic limits. Disciplinary action has been taken against the responsible officer, who has since been transferred from that station. We remain committed to serving the public 24/7," he responded on X.

In a separate incident, Chikkadpalli traffic police reportedly threatened several roadside vendors at Indira Park and confiscated their gas cylinders. These vendors have been operating their businesses there for several years. The vendors have complained that ACP Yarna Naik behaved rudely with them, confiscated their gas cylinders and threatened to file cases against them.

“We are just trying to make an honest living, but the police treat us like criminals,” said Rajesh, a street vendor at Indira Park. We are terrified that we will lose our livelihood, he added.