Bhubaneswar: A 37-year-old man claiming to be an active member of a nationalised party was on Friday arrested for allegedly molesting a female traffic constable at Sachivalay Marg on Thursday evening.
The accused, identified as Susant Kumar Nayak, also threatened the on-duty cop after he was stopped for jumping a signal.
Police said that the accused, who was travelling on his motorcycle in an inebriated condition, was stopped by the lady constable after he jumped a traffic signal.
"The accused abused the cop and also manhandle the woman in uniform. The on-duty constable called the PCR van and the accused was brought to the police station. At the police station, he also created a ruckus claiming to be a member of a political party," said a police official.
Deputy commissioner of police Anup Kumar Sahoo said the accused had been arrested under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 354 (outraging the modesty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty) and 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty) of Indian Penal Code.
"The case was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by the lady constable. We also urge commuters to refrain way from abusing traffic personnel," said Sahoo.
In June, police had arrested Jitu Jena, 30, for allegedly assaulting an on-duty traffic constable. The accused, a truck driver by profession, had assaulted the traffic constable during a vehicle check being conducted in the area.
Several incidents of traffic personnel being accused and assaulted have taken place in the city in the recent past. In January last year, three traffic policemen were injured in an attack by two men during traffic enforcement at AG Square, a few meters away from the Traffic Police Station.
The accused had assaulted the men on duty after they were stopped for not wearing helmet.
In order to prevent such incidents, the police in December last year had provided body cameras to the cops to keep a close watch on the violations primarily related to traffic. In the first phase, 240 body cameras were provided to the cops.
