Outside ‘The fifth Element’ on Elgin Road where Chai Break and Momo Plaza are located, if you look for a ‘No Parking’ sign, you won’t find it. In fact, an attendant will even help you park. So, imagine your surprise when you step out, and Kolkata Traffic police hands out slapped parking tickets. Of course, the parking attendant couldn’t be located, instead a group of police officers handed out tickets, while refusing to answer any queries, or await for the parking attendant to return.
Since the group of friends hadn’t parked in a no parking zone, obviously they chose to reason with the cops on duty. But this wasn’t a platform for reasoning, and instead things soon got out of hand, and beyond any logical solution. One officer screamed insults, and another reprimanded one in the group. Another officer took off his jacket to join in the melee.
Despite no evidence of a ‘No Parking’ sign, the tickets were served. An officer also caught a boy by the scruff of his neck, and a girl roughly on the arm. You can also hear a cop saying “Daag lagiye debo”, which translates to ‘will leave you with a mark’. Whether that is a reference to leaving a mark, i.e., a police case, or actually physically leaving a scar is difficult to distinguish.
Tom Sarkar is the officer who was extremely rude, uncooperative and did not want to answer queries. While the group took photographs of the incident as proof, the officer mimicked them in an unprofessional manner, and clicked photographs of the vehicles and youngsters. With an increasing number of incidents reported against police officers being involved in a brawl, it’s time they’re trained to communicate with common folk in a more appropriate manner rather than being offensive and hard handed.
