Gujarat minister's son, friends threaten woman cop, inquiry ordered

An audio clip of a heated exchange between a woman police constable and the son of a Gujarat minister and his friends, who allegedly violated the lockdown and threatened her when questioned, has gone viral.

An inquiry has been ordered into the incident, a senior Surat city police official said on Saturday (July 11).

The audio features constable Sunita Yadav and Prakash, son of Varachha Road MLA and Minister of State for Health Kumar Kanani, and his friends.

The incident allegedly took place around 10.30 at Mangadh chowk here on Wednesday night, said Assistant Commissioner of Police (Special Branch) P L Chaudhary.

“The audio clip came to the notice of Surat Police Commissioner (R B Brahmbhatt). He has asked ACP (A-Division) C K Patel to conduct inquiry. Action will be taken based on the inquiry report,” Chaudhary said.

In the audio, the men who confronted the constable are heard saying they had the power to “make you stand at the same place for 365 days”.

The constable shouts back that she is not their slave or a servant of their fathers that they can make her stand there for 365 days.

She is then heard calling up her superior officer to inform that when she stopped five persons who were roaming around in a car without wearing masks after 10 pm when curfew is in force in view of coronavirus, they called Prakash, the son of MLA Kanani.

When Prakash arrived on the spot, they threatened and abused her, she is heard saying.

Minister Kanani claimed that his son was on his way to the civil hospital as his father-in-law, undergoing treatment for COVID-19, was critical when he was stopped by the constable.

“He requested her to let him go. She argued why the vehicle had MLA written on it. He said it was his father’s vehicle. She asked why he was in my vehicle. I believe she should have tried to understand what my son was saying. I believe both the sides should have tried to understand each other better,” the minister said.