Man gets two-year jail for dragging police constable 100 ft with motorcycle

Mumbai, Dec 12 (PTI) A court here has sentenced a 24-year-old businessman to two years of simple imprisonment for dragging a police constable nearly 100 feet with his motorcycle in 2015.

Additional sessions judge K R Deshpande (Dindoshi court) found the accused, Sagar Gosaliya, guilty of offences under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty).

In the detailed order available on Friday, the court ruled that the accused dragged the constable by "breaking the command", caused simple injuries to him and thereby deterred him from discharging his duty.

"I find that the provisions of both these sections are very well attracted in this case," the court said.

The incident took place over a decade ago on April 21, 2015.

According to the prosecution, constable Jagdish Bhimrao Zende was on duty at an anti-chain snatching point in suburban Borivali.

At around 12.15 pm, he stopped Gosaliya's motorcycle on suspicion. When asked for documents, Gosaliya admitted they were at his nearby home, the prosecution said.

The constable allowed him to get the documents from home, but instructed him to hire an autorickshaw, and even provided him with Rs 30 for the fare.

However, instead of complying, Gosaliya attempted to flee on his motorcycle.

When constable Zende grabbed the rider's arm to stop him, Gosaliya accelerated, dragging the constable for approximately 100 feet along the road, the prosecution said.

It claimed that the constable sustained injuries, his uniform was torn, and his glasses were broken during the ordeal.

The court, after reviewing the evidence on record, found that "the accused had disobeyed the order of a public servant".

Being his duty to stop the accused, the policeman caught hold of the accused, still he did not stop and accelerated his motorcycle, the court said.

The judge stressed that the behaviour and action of the accused "definitely amounted to using criminal force to deter the informant from discharging his duty".

Just because the accused did not assault the informant it does not mean that the provisions of section 353 of IPC are not attracted in this case," the court said.

The defence pointed out the lack of bloodstains on the constable's torn trousers to question the severity of the injury.

Rejecting the contention, the court said, "There is no dispute about sustaining simple injury by the informant on that spot because the accused has dragged him up to 100 ft." The court then concluded that "the prosecution has fully established the guilt of the accused beyond all reasonable doubts." PTI AVI NP