Stopped for rash and negligent driving, the daughter of the BJP’s Mahadevapura MLA, Aravind Limbavali, got into a public spat with police in the heart of Bengaluru on Thursday.
But the police held their ground and let her go only after Rs 10,000 in traffic fines was paid.
Renuka Limbavali was driving a high-end car (registration number KA 03/NH 0909) with a friend when the police flagged it down near Capital Hotel on Raj Bhavan Road in the afternoon.
The assistant commissioner of police (Cubbon Park sub-division) had seen the car zooming past and asked his men to chase it down.
Confronted by the police, she became argumentative.
Videos aired by Kannada news channels show Renuka asking the police if it was wrong to overtake the ACP’s car. When many policemen, reporters and members of the public gathered there, she dropped her father’s name and claimed the car belonged to him.
A check by the traffic police showed the car had Rs 9,000 in pending fines. They also fined her Rs 1,000 for rash and negligent driving.
Renuka, however, started to argue again, saying she doesn’t have the money to pay the fine. But the police didn’t relent. Finally, one of her friends paid the fine and they drove off.
B R Ravikanthe Gowda, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said she stopped the car on the hotel premises after the Vidhana Soudha police flagged it down.
“She got into an argument and asked what her mistake was. Since she was driving in a rash and negligent manner, the Cubbon Park traffic police asked her to pay the fine. She argued but paid Rs 10,000 in fines,” he added.
Another senior police officer said the car was chased down because it was speeding and something seemed wrong with it.
“It is part of our duty to check suspicious vehicles. Our men on the ground just did their duty. She did not abuse any police officer, so we just left her with the traffic fine,” the officer explained.
Speaking to media persons, the MLA said his daughter was not driving the car, her friend was. He, however, said if his daughter had done anything wrong, he would apologise for it.