UP Woman Police Officer Stands up To Bullying by BJP Workers

Bulandshahr: A woman police officer in western Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr stood up to bullying by a group of BJP workers as they created a ruckus after one of them was issued a challan and arrested for riding a motorcycle without the requisite documents.

In the video footage of the incident that has since gone viral, Circle Officer (CO) Shreshtha Thakur confronted and admonished the mob of BJP workers, who raised slogans against the police.

They also misbehaved and argued with her. Thakur shut them up, accusing them of goondaism and of bringing a bad name to their party. In the clip, she can be heard telling them “she will add additional sections for creating public disorder".

“You please go and get written orders from the Chief Minister that the police have no right to check vehicles... that we can’t do our job," she told the leader of the mob.

“Hum raat mein parivar ko chhor ke duty karte hain, maze lene ke liye nahi (we leave our families at home to do our job by the night, and not to have fun)," she told them sternly.

She also said, “You (BJP workers) are bringing a bad name to your party... people will soon start saying that you are BJP’s goondas."

The incident took place on Friday afternoon when BJP’s district-level worker Pramod Lodhi was issued a challan for not carrying proper documentation of his vehicle.

He was stopped at a check post, but he started misbehaving with the police officers following which he was arrested, the police said.

The BJP workers also created a ruckus outside the court when Lodhi was produced before a magistrate, and also outside Thakur’s office.

They alleged that he was arrested because he refused to pay a bribe to a police officer. A man, who is seen arguing with her, tells her that Lodhi was asked to pay Rs 2,000, a claim that she refuted and said that the police issued challans to thousands of offenders and nobody had an issue except for him.

“The challan was right, but the misbehaviour with workers was wrong. There should be an investigation. A complaint has been made to the IG and I will also take up the issue with the CM," he said.

SP spokesperson Ghanshyam Tiwari said every girl in UP is proud of the action taken by Thakur, and said everybody should show the “Samajwadi Party mindset," if it means doing their job with honesty. He said that BJP promised to make UP “Uttam Pradesh," but is turning it into an “Upadra Pradesh (Unruly state)".

This is not the first time that women police officers have had a face-off with member of the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh. A few weeks ago, a woman police officer, Charu Nigam, was seen wiping her tears after she was shouted at and threatened by a senior BJP leader and Gorakhpur lawmaker Radha Mohan Das Agarwal.

The IPS officer was trying to control women protesters who had blocked a road while demanding a ban on liquor shops, when a minor clash erupted.

A well-known doctor, Agarwal, started shouting at Nigam, saying, “Main aapse baat nahin kar raha hoon... mujhe tum kuch na batao. Chup raho tum! Bardasht ke bahar mat jao (I am not speaking to you. Don't tell me anything. You keep quiet. Don't cross your limits)".