Mumbai father-son duo get one-year jail term for assaulting on-duty cops

Mumbai: A court here has sentenced a father-son duo to one year jail term for assaulting some police personnel in 2018, noting that such incidents were on the rise and making it difficult for public servants to discharge their duty.

Additional sessions judge, V M Sundale, in a judgment delivered on October 14, held Rudrapal Agrawal (60) and his son Tushar (29) guilty of offences committed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 353 (using criminal force to prevent a public servant from performing their duty) and 332 (causing harm to a public servant).

As per the prosecution, the police had gone to the residence of Rudrapal Agrawal at Kemps Corner in south Mumbai after receiving a distress call from his brother Ashok Agrawal on May 15, 2018.

Upon reaching there, the police found that a quarrel had broken out between the two brothers and their family members.

Sub-inspector Vinod Kamble, who was part of the team, said in his testimony before the court that he and other personnel found that the quarrel was escalating.

He tried to pacify the two sides, but was met with hostility from the accused and other family members, Kamble said.

The policeman then testified that Tushar slapped him, while other family members verbally abused and assaulted him and other officers.

Besides Kamble, the prosecution recorded the testimony of eight other witnesses.

Additional public prosecutor Ratnavali Patil contended that the accused not only obstructed the informant (Kamble) and his colleagues in the discharge of their official duties, but also inflicted injuries upon the informant and committed criminal intimidation.

The court, after considering the evidence presented by the prosecution concluded that the accused in furtherance of their common intention obstructed and assaulted Kamble and other police officers while they were lawfully discharging their duty.

The judge said that the prosecution successfully established its case beyond reasonable doubt, and held the father-son duo guilty. They were sentenced to one year of simple imprisonment.

The court observed that in recent years, such offences have been increasing, making it difficult for public servants to perform their duties.

"It requires deterrent punishment so that the present case can serve as a precedent to deter such offenders," it said.