While speaking to NOW!, the driver in question, 23 year old Sachin Gurung, who drives a Maruti Alto and plies between Children Park Taxi Stand and Bojoghari Phatak, stated that on returning from Phatak as he was entering the Children Park taxi stand, a lady constable of the Traffic Police, stopped his vehicle and asked for the vehicle documents. He then told the lady constable that his papers were at the Motor Vehicles Department, hearing which she assaulted him while he was still on the wheels.
According to eye witnesses, it is learnt that the lady constable reacted after the vehicle rashly overtook other vehicles which were in line to enter the stand and when the taxi turned and came towards the entrance, she stopped the vehicle and asked the driver for the documents. When he could not produce them, she slapped the driver. On the other hand, the constable alleged that the driver drove over her feet.
“Whatever happened should not have taken place. In the first place, the lady constable should not have raised her hands on a driver when he was on duty. She should rather have reported to her senior officers or reported the offence at the Sadar Police Station nearby,” commented Chung Chung Bhutia [president, Central Joint Action Committee of Local Taxi Drivers Association, Gangtok], while speaking to NOW! today.
He further informed that after the incident, all the taxi drivers plying their vehicles from the said taxi stand went on a strike and stopped plying their vehicles. The drivers have demanded that the lady constable apologize to the driver she assaulted, he said and added that the situation was brought under control on the intervention of the Superintendent of Police [East] Dr MS Tuli and senior officers of the Traffic Police.
“We were asked by the SP [East] not to do anything rash or take things into our own hands and start plying our vehicles,” said the president adding that the SP [East] has asked them to file a report regarding the incident after two days as the Assembly session is in progress at present. The SP [East] has stated that after the report is filed he will personally call both the parties to his office and sort out the matter. The culprit will be punished and strict action will be taken against the guilty, he further added.
Meanwhile, a member of the Children Park Executive Welfare Association, NT Bhutia informed that they want action to be taken in writing by the SP [East] after he finds who is guilty, otherwise all taxis of the Children Park Taxi Stand will stop plying, he said.
It may be informed here that there are eight associations that operate out of the Children Park Taxi Stand. They are: Chandmari, Rongyek, JN Road, Phengla, Helipad-Luing, Vajra-Swastik, Phatak-Penlong and Laxmi Sweets. Following the incident, while some drivers had started to ply their vehicles, most chose to keep theirs off the road.
