Here are 130 spots in Mumbai where traffic police are most likely to be assaulted

The murder of traffic police head constable Vilas Shinde last year brought to light just how perilous the job is

In August last year, traffic police head constable Vilas Shinde caught a minor who was riding a bike. The boy’s brother, Ahmed Mohammad Ali Qureshi, 20, reached the spot and assaulted Shinde with a wooden stick. Nine days later, Shinde died at Lilavati Hospital in Bandra (West).

One of these spots is at Yari Road in Andheri (West), where traffic constable Nitin Rathod was assaulted on Friday. (HT File Photo)

The murder brought to light just how perilous the job of a traffic police constable is. But, it has still not stopped citizens from picking fights with them, verbally abusing and threatening to assault them.

This prompted the traffic police to undertake a survey, which helped them identify 130 vulnerable spots in the city, where on-duty officers are most unsafe.

These spots are where drivers are most likely to argue and manhandle traffic policemen, said Amitesh Kumar, joint commissioner of police (traffic).

One of these spots is at Yari Road in Andheri (West), where traffic constable Nitin Rathod was assaulted on Friday. Rathod asked a tempo driver taking a U-turn to stop as there were barricades ahead. The driver, Nanku Kalluram Yadav, refused to listen. When Rathod demanded he stop, Yadav got out of the vehicle and started assaulting him. A passerby helped Rathod nab Yadav before he fled. Yadav was arrested and remanded in police custody on Saturday.

Rathod is just one of many constables who have been subjected to assault by errant drivers who refuse to be penalised for breaking traffic rules.

Now, the police will equip their constables with body WiFi-enabled cameras. “We plan to buy 100 cameras on a trial basis,” added Kumar. These cameras will be attached to the constables’ uniform and will record every conversation they have with motorists. These will serve as evidence in case of an altercation.