Himachal Police officials thrash a man inside Atal Tunnel, video goes viral

A video of a man getting thrashed inside the Atal Tunnel has become viral on the Internet. The video, which is recorded by another person passing through the Atal Tunnel shows unidentified Himachal Police constable and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) personnel ganging up against a man. Himachal Police has initiated a probe after the incident took place on Sunday.

The exact crime done by the person is not known. However, the video, which is longer than 1 minute shows four authority personnel kicking the man and even using sticks on him. The man bent with his arms passing through the legs and holding his ears is trying to explain something. The video also shows a long jam on the opposite side of the road. The exact reason for the authorities behaving like this remains unknown.

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Himachal Police ordered a probe

After the video became viral on the Internet, Himachal Police has ordered a probe. However, the police are yet to comment on the incident and clarify anything that happened in the video. It is highly speculative but it seems like that the person broke the lane and came on the opposite side of the road to overtake the standstill traffic. This is the first such incident that is reported from the recently inaugurated Atal Tunnel.

The Atal Tunnel has attracted a large number of tourists from across the country. After Prime Minister Narender Modi inaugurated the tunnel earlier this year, tourists throng themselves to the tunnel. Several videos show that the tourists do not maintain lane discipline, speed limit and other rules inside the tunnel. Recently, the Himachal Police seized multiple cars and made several arrests after videos of people stopping in the middle of the tunnel and dancing became viral.

After the crowd gathering at the tunnel, the district magistrate ordered that no pictures and selfies are allowed in front of the South Portal of the tunnel. About 200 metres ahead of the South Portal is photography free zone. Also, the police have started putting speed trap cameras inside the tunnel to catch the tourists who do not maintain the speed limit of 80 km/h inside the tunnel. It is a 9.02 km long tunnel that connects the Lahaul-Spiti that otherwise remains disconnected due to the heavy snowfall around this time of the year.

Tourists damaged Atal Tunnel

In another report, groups of tourists from Delhi, Haryana, UP and Punjab were accused of destroying the infrastructure of the tunnel. The authorities say that the tourists throw out garbage like plastic bags inside the tunnel from the moving cars. Also, the tourists have damaged security instruments inside the tunnel within the past fortnight. Unknown tourists have also damaged a fire hydrant glass box in the middle of the tunnel. Regular illegal actions like sitting on the top of the vehicle inside the tunnel and driving with doors wide open are also reported. Himachal Police have arrested more than 25 tourists till now and a fine worth Rs 50,000 collected only in the past few days.

A Border Roads Organisation (BRO) official said on the condition of anonymity to TOI,

“They drink and create ruckus inside the tunnel after stopping vehicles anywhere. Some drive on the wrong side and some park inside the tunnel. They have broken the median traffic cones. The hooligans are leaving no stone unturned in damaging the beauty of the tunnel which we should treat as a national monument. This is matter of happiness that Atal tunnel has emerged as a major tourist destination in a short time period but tourists should understand the importance of the tunnel and should treat it respectfully as it is the pride of the nation,”

The officials close down the tunnel every day for an hour to clean it properly and collect the plastic wastes. Also, if the cars stop inside the tunnel, it increases the level of carbon dioxide due to the emissions from the car exhausts.

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