Policemen Throw Stones At Moving Trucks, Suspended After Video Goes Viral
Video clips shared online often expose major misconduct from those in power and various enforcement agencies. One such case has now surfaced, showing a dangerous act from the Uttar Pradesh police department. In a set of videos shared on various social media platforms, we see some policemen try to stop a group of trucks on a national highway and pelt stones at them to make them yield. The clips soon went viral and triggered departmental action against three head constables involved in the act.
The Videos: What Do They Show?
This incident took place in Sonbhadra in UP. As many as four clips of it have been shared online. In these, we can see large dumper trucks loaded with minerals, rolling slowly through a neatly paved stretch, near the busy Lohdi Toll Plaza.
The mining department has a barrier in this area. On the day of this incident, a joint team of the mines department and police was checking trucks carrying minerals.
A few policemen stand by the road and try to stop the trucks. Some say that the trucks here were carrying minerals without proper permits. (We haven’t been able to verify this claim though.) This made the policemen try to stop them. First, we see the cops trying to stop the truck with hand gestures.
The vehicle, however, continues to roll, One of the cops then picks up stones from nearby and throw at it, in order to force the driver to pull over. Sound from these clips confirms that at least some of these stones hit the truck’s metal body.
The side quarter glasses of some of the vehicles shown in these are also shattered. We don’t , however, know if this was caused by the act here. These stones reportedly damaged the front windshields of some of these trucks.
Netizens React
These videos have created massive public outrage online. Most netizens took the truck drivers’ side and criticised the police for their act. It was outright illegal to pelt stones to stop a vehicle for inspection. Furthermore, throwing stones randomly posed larger safety challenges as well.
These could land on random commuters nearby and even land two-wheeler riders in deep trouble. Many pointed out these. The internet is indeed upset with the cops’ action.
What Could Have Possibly Been Wrong Here?
The issue here seems to be that of overloading the truck. Some of the vehicles seen in these videos have huge load bays- likely larger than the sizes recommended by manufacturers-, fully loaded.
According to our laws, overloading a truck is illegal. Changing the dimensions of the loading bay is illegal as well. But, these are common, especially in the mining industry. Fleet or business owners often pay a lump sum to get the load transported smoothly.
The cops seem to have had solid reasons to ask the trucks to pull over. Things, however, went wrong the moment they chose to pelt stones at it. It wasn’t about the trucks alone, thereafter. The policemen were then doing something that could even cause inconvenience to the larger public.
Governmental Action Follows
As the videos continued to rack up views, the authorities intervened and proper governmental action was initiated against the three policemen who were involved in the incident. The three head constables were soon suspended and the in-charge of Robertsganj police station was sent to lines.
Soon after the incident, the mines department surveyor Yogesh Shukla filed a complaint at the Robertsganj station alleging that the truck drivers tried to run him (and others at the scene) over. A case has been registered based on the same. The investigation on this is already underway.