18 December,2017 08:40 AM IST | Mumbai | A Correspondent
Rude officers yell and manhandle advertising professional after she refuses to move from footpath of road closed off for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's convoy
'What could've been a starry night turned out to be a scary one for me,' advertising professional Shilika Roy, 24, tweeted on December 13. The reason for the scare were several police officers, ironically on 'VIP bandobast' duty for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, someone who has consistently lamented the country's VIP culture. Not only did the cops speak rudely with Roy, but also manhandled her. She has now sought action against them.
Shilika Roy tweeted on the incident
Roy's night of police horrors began after her friends dropped her off near Avion Hotel on the Western Express Highway. Then, the Worli resident booked an Uber at 10.22 pm to go home. The cab was supposed to arrive on the opposite side of the road, so she crossed over to wait there.
Roy's night of police horrors began after her friends dropped her off near Avion Hotel on the Western Express Highway. Then, the Worli resident booked an Uber at 10.22 pm to go home. The cab was supposed to arrive on the opposite side of the road, so she crossed over to wait there.
'Go in the gully'
"Then, a male police officer asked me where I wanted to go. I said I'm waiting for my cab. He allowed me to wait there. My cab crossed the location and went ahead so I started walking towards it. Meanwhile, the cops asked the cab to leave, so it got cancelled and I had to wait again on the footpath," Roy told mid-day, adding, "It was around 10.40 pm when a policewoman asked me to wait inside a gully. As any girl would do for her safety, I refused to wait in an unknown gully full of men."
Shilika Roy tweeted on the incident
Roy and the cop then had an argument as the cop kept insisting Roy had no option but to wait there as a VIP was going to pass. Roy refused, after which cops began yelling at her saying it's an order and their jobs would be at risk if she didn't move.
'Tweet to top boss'
The quarrel continued and one of the cops asked her to complain to their top bosses if she had an issue with the rules. When she asked where she could do so, he said Twitter. Then, a second policeman came and insisted that she go in the gully or they would lose their jobs. The cops finally allowed Roy to wait on the footpath. But the policewomen asked her to go further back so she would not be seen.
Roy waited for 10-15 minutes, stuck to the wall of a shop, trying to book another cab. But her troubles were far from over. "The same policewoman grabbed me by my arm and started pulling me. She was applying physical pressure on me without any instigation. There was no communication or even eye contact in the time I was waiting on the footpath. She began yelling at me," said Roy.
A warning to the cops
The women proceeded to check her bags and threw one of them down. "All this while, she hurled abuses at me and constantly cribbed in Marathi about how I'm being a pain and not letting them do their job. I still didn't move. The VIP entourage passed by and within seconds, none of those cops were to be seen," she added. Roy finally got a cab back home at 11.08 pm.
Since then, Roy's complaint has been taken down and referred to the Vile Parle police, who wrote her an email saying, "Considering your inconvenience, we have warned the lady constable and policeman for the incident. We will also take care of citizens of our area during VIP movement and bandobast." Laxman Chavan, senior inspector, Vile Parle police station confirmed the same to mid-day.
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