Handcuffed inmate’s Taj Mahal outing lands Haryana cops in soup

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, July 24

Out to make the best of their visit to Agra for a court hearing of an undertrial, two Haryana policemen landed themselves in trouble as they decided to go on a sightseeing tour with him.

The policemen reached the iconic Taj Mahal along with the handcuffed prisoner. Their outing plan was, however, dashed by their Uttar Pradesh counterparts who refused to let them enter the Taj Mahal premises while carrying guns. This even led to an altercation between the two policemen and CISF personnel deployed there. When a staffer tried to videograph the incident, the Haryana policemen left the place.

A video of the incident later went viral on social media and though the UP Police did not initiate any action at their end, they have decided to report the matter to the Haryana DGP and recommend a departmental action against the two policemen.

Talking to The Tribune, Sayed Areev Ahmad, ACP, UP Police, said, “We don’t allow weapons inside the Taj Mahal. When two Haryana Police personnel along with a handcuffed person tried to gain entry to the monument, we stopped them. They tried to argue, but later left. We will recommend a departmental action against them.”

The UP Police are scanning the CCTV footage to identify the two policemen and get details of their vehicle, which bore the registration number of Himachal Pradesh. This initially led to the confusion that the cops belonged to the hill state, but their uniform and dialect made it clear that they were from Haryana.

A CISF official deployed at the Taj Mahal said, “We tried to explain the rules to them, but they insisted that they could not leave the prisoner and their weapons behind. We even suggested that they take turns to visit the monument, but they denied.”