DJ drums up support on Facebook against alleged traffic police assault

The HAL Airport Road traffic police find themselves facing an inquiry in connection with the alleged bashing up of disc jockey Sasha Sambi.

The DJ was reportedly roughed up by a group of traffic police personnel on HAL Airport Road during a drunk driving check early Sunday when he and his wife were driving home.

Though the police claimed Mr. Sambi kicked a constable on duty, provoking his colleagues to gang up and beat him, the police did not file a case against the DJ after a senior politician’s relative intervened.

The police were under the impression that the matter had been amicably settled after both parties shook hands and decided to drop charges against each other.

Huge response

However, matters took a different turn with Mr. Sambi writing about his ordeal on Facebook, uploading pictures of what he said were bruises he suffered due to police brutality. His post evoked a massive response, with hundreds castigating police highhandedness.

“We trusted him and his friends, who intervened on his behalf, and decided not to press any charges against the couple. We did not expect him to take a U-turn and launch a campaign against us,” said a senior police officer who was part of the mediation efforts.

To add to their woes, the police have neither recorded the alcometer test results nor have they taped Sunday’s unpleasantness. “Now we are left no option but to file a case against them for assaulting a police constable on duty.”

Refuting the police claim, Mr. Sambi said it was unlikely the police would not have let him off had he kicked the constable. “Neither of us was drunk,” he told The Hindu .

He and his wife were heading back home after partying at a club around 12.30 a.m. when a traffic constable stopped them. “My wife was driving and I was in the passenger’s seat and neither of us had consumed any alcohol,” he claimed. “The constable extended the alcometer at my wife without any intimation and rudely said, ‘Blow into this,’ repeatedly even when the reading did not show any alcohol content.”

Beaten up

Things turned ugly when he got down from the vehicle to talk to the constable but was pushed and kicked, Mr. Sambi claimed. “A group of seven or eight other constables then joined in to bash me up with slaps, kicks and lathis.”

On Wednesday, the DJ met Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) T. Sunil Kumar who asked him file a complaint against the erring policemen. Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) M.A. Saleem said he has ordered an enquiry and has asked senior officials to submit a report for further action.