Video of couple without masks and e-pass abusing cops goes viral, arrested

A husband and wife, seen in a widely shared video purportedly “misbehaving, abusing and provoking” a police team in central Delhi’s Daryaganj, after being stopped for violating the weekend curfew and not wearing masks on Sunday, have been arrested, the Delhi Police said

A husband and wife, seen in a widely shared video purportedly “misbehaving, abusing and provoking” a police team in central Delhi’s Daryaganj, after being stopped for violating the weekend curfew and not wearing masks on Sunday, have been arrested, the Delhi Police said.

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According to the police, the couple was sent to jail after a court refused them bail.

“Police personnel working on ground 24x7 have been sensitised to deal with the public in a humane manner, while enforcing the guidelines firmly. Their politeness is not a sign of weakness but a demeanour adopted to serve the people better. However, law breakers shall be firmly dealt with,” Chinmoy Biswal, Delhi Police spokesperson, said on Monday after the video was widely shared on social media.

The police identified the couple as Abha and her husband Pankaj, both residents of Patel Nagar.

According to the police, the couple was driving through Daryaganj on Sunday afternoon when a police team on the road signalled them to stop to check their movement pass.

“Neither did they have a pass nor were they wearing masks. When we decided to fine them, they began misbehaving and abusing us,” Biswal said.

Visuals showed the woman shouting at the policemen and daring them to act against them. Her husband intermittently took on the police, the video purportedly showed.

“The two violators were arrested under the Indian Penal Code sections 186 (voluntarily obstructing public servant in discharge of public function), 188 (disobedience of order promulgated by public servant), section 269 (unlawfully or negligently does any act which likely to spread the infection or disease), section 353 (assault or use of criminal force against public servant in the execution of his duty) and a section of the Delhi Disaster Management Act,” the police spokesperson said.