TN: Police throws stick at youth riding triples, enrages crowd

CHENNAI: Police and the government takes it as their responsibility to direct passengers on the road to follow traffic rules and have some basic civic sense. But sometimes, things go out of hand when the authorities resort to helpless antics to curb the law breakers.

A similar situation was seen in Tamil Nadu on Monday, at a temporary vehicle check post near Kottur. Three youth who were triple-riding on a bike had sustained injuries after Special Sub-Inspector (SSI) Sambantham, hit them with his stick in a bid to stop them. Unfortunately, the flying stick got stuck between the rear wheel spikes causing the bike to lose balance and slide.

The three youth immediately fell off their bikes and got injured. The onlookers on the street got enraged looking at the way the police tried to handle the situation. They protested against the police who misbehaved with the youths.

The injured riders were taken to a nearby hospital where they were treated for injuries. The higher officials had told the crowd that action would be taken against SSI Sambantham, causing them to leave the scene.

This is a serious issue in India, with studies suggesting that one death occurs in every four minutes in India. In 2013 alone 1,37,000 people were killed in various road accidents. Various state governments have devised their own methods to curb this and encourage passengers to follow the rules. The latest development being the enormous increase in fines put forth by the central government which various states have adopted.