A policeman in Punjab was dragged on the bonnet of a car for several minutes this morning after a team of cops tried to stop the driver -a 20-year-old man - at a Jalandhar checkpost amid a nationwide lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus. The state police have filed a case of attempt to murder against the young man, identified as Anmol Mehmi, who was driving the black Ertiga, and his father Parminder Kumar, the vehicle owner.
This is the second such incident from the state after the lockdown began on March 25; a cop's hand was chopped off last month by a group trying to defy the shutdown.
A shocking 90-second clip from Jalandhar shows the policeman - Assistant Sub-inspector Mulkh Raj - holding on to the bonnet of the moving car, screaming in anxiety, as the accused continues to drive. Some men stunned with the youth's disregard for law and order run behind the vehicle, trying to help the policeman.
As the car stops, the 20-year-old is asked to get down from the vehicle while he is admonished by the policemen around. Two cops are seen thrashing him as they escort him to the police station
#WATCH Punjab: A car driver drags a police officer on car's bonnet in Jalandhar, after the officer tried to stop the vehicle today, amid #COVID19 lockdown. pic.twitter.com/IZUuTHapsK
— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2020In a tweet, state police chief Dinkar Gupta said that "Punjab Police has a 'zero tolerance policy' against such acts".
Jalandhar based Anmol Mehmi, driver of Ertiga vehicle,which almost ran over ASI Mulkh Raj, arrested& his father Parminder Kumar (car owner),both booked for attempt to murder etc by @cp_jal.
Punjab Police has a 'zero tolerance policy' against such acts.
All advised due caution!
— DGP Punjab Police (@DGPPunjabPolice) May 2, 2020"The Jalandhar Commissionerate Police has booked a youth and his father for almost running over an Ertiga car over Assistant Sub Inspector of Police, who had tried to stop him at a naka in the city during the curfew on Saturday morning," an official statement by the Jalandhar Police read.
When the accused was stopped by a team of policemen at a check-post near Milk Bar Chowk, instead of stopping, he sped the car and broke the barrier, according to the statement. "The speeding car almost ran over Assistant sub Inspector of Police Mulkh Raj who was on duty," it said, adding that the junior cop managed to save his life by jumping on the bonnet of the car.
The accused - a college student - who was trying to flee was overpowered by policemen and public, according to the statement. His father owns a shop of electrical appliances.
Last month, a police officer's hand was chopped off and two other officers were injured when a group of people attacked them at a vegetable market in Patiala district. The police said they were attacked when they were trying to ensure the lockdown was in place.
