Jamshedpur, Dec. 12: A group of truckowners attacked and injured a sub-inspector of police in front of his residence at Shiv Singh Bagan in Agrico under Sidhgora police station area last night.
P.K. Singh, of the enforcement wing of the district transport department, was rushed to Tinplate Hospital and later shifted to the Tata Main Hospital with injuries on his lips, nose, head and chest. He also sustained internal injuries in the lower abdomen.
This is the third time that Singh was roughed up by truckowners in the last six months for allegedly refusing to be lenient about overloading their vehicles.
According to police sources, the sub-inspector stepped out of his home for his office at Bhuiyandih around 8.30 pm when a group of truckers assaulted him for turning down their request to not prosecute them for overloading their vehicles. The truckowners beat him up with sticks and fled, leaving behind the motorcycle and the Maruti van in which they had come.
Singh told The Telegraph that on Saturday evening he stopped two overloaded trucks near Bombay Chowk on National Highway 33. ?Having seized the vehicle, I confiscated the papers of the consignment as well as of the truck. I asked the truckers to come and see me at the office. I had to go home for some time. When I reached there, a group of truckers approached me and asked me not to prosecute them. When I refused they left. Later, when I came out of my residence to go to office, I was assaulted,? he said. The truckers left him unconscious, he added.
According to Singh, there are two sub-inspectors in the district and the department has a target of Rs 8.75 lakh per month to be collected by each of the sub-inspectors. But there are no security arrangements. ?I had written to East Singhbhum superintendent of police several times to provide us with security but nothing was done,? Singh said.
However, sources in the Jamshedpur Truck and Trailer Owners? Association said: ?Singh always harasses truckers for bribes even in minor cases of overloading.?
Superintendent of police, Sanjay Anand Lathkar said the police are yet to register a case as the victim still hasn?t lodged a complaint.
