Thane woman traffic cop rewarded for taking on abusive Shiv Sena worker

Illustration / Ravi Jadhav

It's great when good work doesn't go unrecognised, and this Thane traffic constable will agree. Seema Kale was recently rewarded with Rs. 10,000 by the Thane traffic department for reprimanding a Shiv Sena worker, who had not only violated traffic rules, but also assaulted her when she was doing her duty. Kale is posted at special branch under the Thane commissionerate.

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On February 25, 2016, around 11.30 am, she was on duty at Nitin Company Signal chowk. A Scorpio (MH-06-BE-7340) was on its way from Teen Haath Naka headed towards Cadbury. Kale saw that the car driver was busy talking on his cell phone. She stopped him and asked him to show his licence. The driver got angry and immediately started abusing and hitting her. Kale, however, was undeterred and hit him back; she also took action against him as per the Motor Vehicles Act. The whole incident was captured on the CCTV camera installed at Teen Haath Naka junction. After seeing Kale's bravery, the traffic department decided to reward her, as per the police manual part 1 rule no. 300(1)(A).

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Setting an example
Deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Sandeep Palve told mid-day, "Seema has really done a great job. We thought we should motivate her by rewarding her so that she remembers it for a lifetime, and other policewomen take her example and continue to do good work. We really appreciate her presence of mind and the way she handled the situation."

"The incident was quite sudden. I hadn't anticipated the extent to which it would get dragged. But I am happy that I responded to it in the right way; something like this should not happen with any policewoman, and if it does, they should be able to give it back without any fear," said Kale.