Cop tries to solve spat, thrashed

Mumbai: A police sub-inspector (PSI) was beaten up and threatened with a gun by around eight people on the Kalyan-Bhiwandi road on Monday night. According to the police, an Audi car with a Maharashtra registration number dashed into another car, which led to a fight between the drivers. When PSI Kedar Dhanraj, who was patrolling intervened, he was thrashed. The men who thrashed Mr Dhanraj are absconding.

The Thane police will also contact the Gujarat police as the other car was registered with a Gujarat number. The police is in the process of contacting the RTO authorities in Mumbai to get information about the Audi’s owner.

According to sources in Kongaon police station, the incident occurred on Monday night on the Bhiwandi-Kalyan road. Mr Dhanraj is posted at the Kongaon police station. He is part of the Anti-Chain Snatching Unit. “The injured officer was patrolling the area in plainclothes when he saw that two groups were standing in a desolate patch of the highway. He grew suspicious and decided to approach them. When he reached close, he saw that they had come in two cars and one of the cars seemed to have allegedly lightly bumped into the other,” said Razzak Shaikh, the investigating officer of the case.

Mr Shaikh explained that one of the cars was a high end Audi and the other, a small hatchback. “The Audi had about four people as passengers and so did the hatchback. They were arguing in loud voices and when the cop intervened they refused to believe he was a police officer. He then showed his identification card but they still continue fighting. Then some of the people pushed him and the others slapped him and beat him. He somehow managed to call the control room and we reached the spot,” he said.

When the accused heard the police vehicles approaching, they fled the scene.

Dhanraj was rushed to the hospital by the other policemen. In his statement, Mr Dhanraj said one of the people in the crowd threatened him with a gun that he removed from his bag. “The Audi car was white in colour and the other car was red. We have managed to get the registration number of the cars and we are contacting the RTO for details,” he said.

The red hatchback had a Gujarat registration number, so we will contact the Gujarat road transport agency and get details,” he said.

Another officer added that they suspected that the Audi was owned by a rich businessman. “All the accused were in the age bracket of 30-35 and seemed to be in an inebriated state. We will get their owner’s address soon and take action accordingly,” he said.