12 May,2011 06:29 AM IST | | Imran Gowhar
As an alcohol laden truck turns turtle at Whitefield Road, locals make the most of the opportunity and carry away booze worth over Rs 1.14 lakh
Locals and passers-by looted a liquor-laden truck, after a tyre burst led to it turning turtle on Whitefield Road on Tuesday morning, while police and excise officials looked on.
Despite reporting loss of 600 cartoons of liquor worth over Rs 1.14 lakh, the Mahadevapura police refused to register a complaint and demanded that the distillery company show proofu00a0 that the stock was looted.
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The truck was heading towards state Brewery Company limited to store their products when the incident took place
Even after explaining that police constables were present at the spot when the looters struck, the cops did not relent. It was only after top police officials wereu00a0 appraised of the situation that a complaint was registered.
"We have paid Rs 5,000 and all we need is a copy of the complaint to submit to the to the company," distillery in-charge Nagraj, told this reporter.
He said that the truck was heading towards state Brewery Company limited, a state owned liquor warehouse, to store their products when the incident happened at around 7 am.
Gone in an hour
The driver immediately informed the company, which in turn alerted the police control room. Within minutes, three policemen from Mahadevapura police station rushed to the spot.
Meanwhile, a team of excise officials on patrol in the area also reached the spot. While the officials were inspecting the truck, a tarpaulin covering the goods was dislodged by the wind and the liquor bottles were exposed.
Passers-by and localsu00a0 at the scene, began looting the the cartons and escaping with whatever they could carry. Within an hour, the truck was empty.
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"All the while, the police did not make any effort to stop them and remained mute spectators," Nagraj alleged.
Clean-up operation
Coincidentally, after the truck was looted, BBMP staff arrived and cleaned up the area within minutes, since it was main road and the cartons and other debris was creating a roadblock, he added.
Mahadevapura police however, were not available for comment.
Strict action
It may be recalled that city Police Commissioner J P Mirji, shortly after taking over from Shankar Bidari, had warned strict action against police personnel if found neglecting their duties.
"They would he held responsible for any law and situation arising in their jurisdiction," he had said.
