The Thane traffic police are under the scanner for the assault and arrest of an engineer after he insisted on a receipt on paying a fine for a violation. Minister of State for Home (urban), Dr Ranjit Patil, has ordered an inquiry into the incident. When the complainant asked for the receipt, the police assaulted him. They also registered an offence against him in Rabale police station and arrested him. The complainant contacted the minister when he did not receive a satisfactory reply from Navi Mumbai police (where the offence was registered against him) and Thane police, whose traffic cops assaulted him.

The incident

On August 2, around 7 pm Shashikant Tiwari, 37, was on his way home from work. He was riding his bike (MH-43-AP-3821) on Thane-Belapur road from wrong way to refuel it at Digha village. Traffic cops asked him to stop. "They demanded my driving licence. After checking it, they told me that I would have to pay Rs 1,700 (Rs 1,200 for riding without a helmet and R500 for riding the wrong way) and Rs 2,200 extra," said Shashikant. "I gave them Rs 2,500, told them that's all I had, and demanded a receipt from them," he added. According to Shashikant, traffic cops told him the e-challan machine wasn't working. He said they refused to accept e-payment. He again demanded a receipt for the Rs 2,500. When cops didn't paid heed, he walked towards an officer, later identified as Sub-Inspector Sanjay Jumle. Shashikant claimed that as he was walking towards PSI Jumle, a constable hit his head from the rear. When he retaliated, three more cops rushed towards him.