A video of Kancheepuram Collector K. Ponniah threatening to suspend a police inspector on duty at the Athi Varadar shrine on Friday night for “letting random people” into the VIP queue, went viral on Saturday, evoking mixed responses from the public and the police.
According to police sources, the incident happened around 7.30 p.m., when Mr. Ponniah arrived at the VIP queue enclosure and found it to be very crowded. Reportedly, he spotted policemen letting in visitors into the queue that is exclusive for VIP passholders.
Seeing this, the Collector shouted at Inspector Ramesh from Tiruvallur for allegedly allowing people into the queue without checking the passes.
While the police officer is seen repeatedly telling him that he let in people only after checking the passes, the Collector threatened to suspend the policeman for being negligent on duty.
However, police sources said that an officer cannot be suspended unless there is a written instruction.
“We cannot suspend him without a proper complaint or instruction,” said a senior police officer. “He could have warned the inspector and written to senior police officers to suspend him. But he should not have verbally abused him in front of the public,” said a police officer.
Helping devotees
A video clip of policemen helping devotees visiting Athi Varadar has also been doing the rounds on social media.
“The personnel have helped elderly persons and children get darshan with ease. We also donated food and water to the visitors. But all these are not highlighted anywhere,” said a senior police officer.
