Bengaluru: The faceoff between army personnel and city traffic police continued in the city on Friday morning with the driver of an army truck refusing to move the vehicle after crashing into an SUV on the busy MG Road near Webb’s Junction and causing long traffics jam in the Central Business District. Just three days ago, on Tuesday, army men assaulted three traffic policemen on K.R. Road-Cubbon Road junction after riding on the wrong side of a one-way.
On Friday, army truck driver, Havaldar Shivaputrappa (45-50), refused to move the truck from the accident spot, despite repeated requests from traffic policemen. He parked the truck on the middle of the road obstructing traffic, saying he would not move it till his senior officers arrived at the spot. The Ulsoor traffic police registered a case of rash and negligent driving against Shivaputrappa, based on a complaint lodged by the SUV driver, Tahir Khan.
The army driver’s stubbornness led to traffic jams on Cubbon Road, BRV Junction, Hasanath College Road, Ulsoor Road and the traffic from three directions towards the Webb’s Junction, the police said. Shivaputrappa was driving the truck, which had displayed a learner’s sign and bearing the registration number 06-C078412M, towards Command Hospital from Cubbon Road when the accident occurred. The truck brushed against the SUV, which was to its left, while taking the left turn at the busy junction, the police said. The civilian’s car that was damaged was pulled to the side of the road immediately, but Shivaputrappa refused to move his vehicle.
The entire traffic police team (an inspector, sub-inspector, two head constables and a constable) tried to convince Shivaputrappa that they had taken pictures and conducted the spot inspection for further investigation, but he insisted that he would move the vehicle only after his seniors from the army visited the spot. Around 45 minutes later, a senior army personnel, identified as Kamalesh Kumar – the vehicle in-charge, arrived and the truck was taken away. The tussle that started at 9.10 am could be resolved only 10.15 am and the traffic started clearing, the police said.
“This is highly uncalled for. It looks like the army officials are determined to trouble the traffic police after the Commercial Street incident,” a senior police officer said. Based on the SUV owner’s complaint, the police have filed a case under Section 279 of IPC (Rash driving or riding on a public way) and are waiting for army officials’ response on inspecting the truck involved in the accident.
