After being clouted by some legislators a day after he fined one of them for speeding, a Maharashtra police officer was today suspended for being "rude" even as two arrested MLAs allegedly involved in the incident in the Assembly premises walked out of jail on bail.
Home Minister R R Patil announced in the assembly the suspension of Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Suryavanshi for being "rude and misbehaving" with Bahujan Vikas Agadhi MLA Kshitij Thakur, a decision ostensibly aimed at buying peace with the legislators who stalled proceedings of the two Houses of legislature over the last few days demanding action against the officer.
Suryavanshi, attached to the Worli police station, was thrashed by a group of MLAs outside the visitors gallery at Vidhan Bhavan, state's legislature complex, on Tuesday, a day after he had stopped Thakur's vehicle on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link for speeding and slapped a fine.
On Wednesday, the Assembly had suspended five MLAs-- Ram Kadam (MNS), Jaykumar Rawal (BJP), Kshitij Thakur (Bahujan Vikas Agadhi), Rajan Salvi (Shiv Sena) and Pradeep Jaiswal (Independent)--for their alleged involvement in the unsavoury episode.
Patil said he had watched the CD of the "verbal duel" Suryavanshi had with Thakur on Bandra-Worli sealink on March 18 following which he had announced in the legislative council that the incident will be probed and the officer would be sent on forced leave.
"As per the preliminary inquiry by DCP S R Nilevad (DCP, Traffic-South), Suryavanshi was rude to Thakur, which is unbecoming of a police officer. He will be suspended till the inquiry is complete," Patil said.
Thakur and Kadam walked out of jail as Metropolitan Magistrate U M Padwad ordered their release on bail.
The court ordered their release on sureties of Rs 15,000 each and directed them to appear before the Crime Branch office in Mumbai every Wednesday between 11 AM and 1 PM, till the completion of investigation.
The two were arrested last Thursday after they had surrendered before the Crime Branch following registration of an FIR against them based on a complaint by Suryavanshi.
