Traffic constable kicks 'drunk' man in Tirupati, suspended after video goes viral
TIRUPATI: A traffic head constable was caught on camera kicking a man at Annamayya Circle in the temple town on Saturday afternoon. As the incident went viral on social media platforms, the Tirupati urban police suspended the constable on Sunday.
The head constable, T Jagadish Kishore, who was posted at Annamayya Circle, was seen kicking the man identified as Kishore Babu on the roadside in the video. According to information, Kishore Babu, who was in an inebriated condition, allegedly created a nuisance and even tried to physically assault a passerby at the busy junction.
When contacted, Sri Venkateswara University police station Circle Inspector Ravindra said, "The 30-second video clip which is doing rounds on the social media, has sent a wrong message to the public as it has been interpreted as the police high-handedness against a common man."
However, when netizens go through the full video it will be understood that the drunken man created nuisance and tried to physically assault the public and the cop. The traffic cop intervened and confronted the drunken man when he was behaving violently with the public. In return, the drunken man tried to hit the cop and that was when the cop beat him up.
Tirupati SP P Parameswara Reddy said the traffic constable was sent to vacancy reserve and later suspended after conducting an inquiry into the incident. Stating that the constable had kicked the inebriated man to prevent him from assaulting an auto driver, the SP made it clear that any sort of high-handedness on behalf of police personnel will be dealt with sternly.