(Top) A policeman at the trouble spot in Bankura; driver Satyendra Singh. Pictures by Gour Sharma

Durgapur, June 26: Four bribe-hungry policemen who allegedly chased and beat up a truck driver for refusing to shell out Rs 1,000 got thrashed by other drivers in Bankura this morning.

The truck driven by 38-year-old Satyendra Singh was on its way to Hyderabad with tea leaves from Guwahati when the policemen stopped it outside Bankura town on National Highway 60.

The cops were in a Jeep. One of them flagged down Satyendra’s truck.

“The policeman first stopped my vehicle, then thrust his hand forward for money. When I handed him a Rs 10 note after slowing down, all four abused me and ordered me to stop,” Satyendra said.

“I pressed on the accelerator to escape,” the driver said from his bed at the Bankura Sammilani Medical College and Hospital. But the cops did not give up.

“They chased my truck for a kilometre, overtook it and parked the Jeep in front of it. Then they asked me to pay Rs 1,000 or come to the police station,” Satyendra said. “I requested them to let me go but the policemen dragged me out, pushed me down on the road and started kicking me.”

Hearing Satyendra’s cries, around 25 drivers who were sipping their morning tea in nearby roadside dhabas, came to his rescue. They set upon the policemen “to teach them a lesson”.

Soon, residents joined the drivers in slapping and kicking the policemen. They kept the cops confined in the Jeep. Their driver was not spared, either.

R.K. Singh, whose truck was following Satyendra’s, said: “I slammed the brakes to avoid a collision with Satyendra’s truck when it was stopped by the policemen. I saw him being dragged out of the driver’s cabin and thrashed by the policemen. When I intervened, the policemen threatened that I would face the same consequences if I did not shut up.”

Eyewitnesses identified the policeman leading the assault on Satyendra as sub-inspector Khudiram Bera of Bankura police station.

“Satyendra was writhing in pain when we sent him to hospital,” said Raju Badyakar, who runs a motel nearby.

“I regularly see policemen on highway patrol collecting money from truck drivers. They also eat in our dhabas sometimes, but never pay,” he added.

Satyendra’s condition was stable, doctors said.

The four policemen have been transferred to a camp in Jhilimili, a Maoist-infested area in Bankura, as punishment.

The truck drivers, however, were not done after beating the cops. They blocked National Highway 60 protesting the harassment.

When policemen from Bankura town reached the spot around 6.30am to rescue their four colleagues, bricks and stones greeted them, prompting a lathi-charge.

The Bankura additional superintendent of police, Rabindranath Mukherjee, said a probe had been ordered against the four policemen.