Rudrapur: Rudrapur BJP MLA Rajkumar Thukral has run into controversy again after he deflated the tyre of a car which was parked on the road and had led to a traffic bottleneck. A picture of him deflating the tyre on July 11 surfaced on social media with the opposition Congress and netizens slamming the legislator for taking the law into his own hands and for “blatant misuse of power”.Thukral, however, said that he deflated the tyre to “teach the owner a lesson” for parking illegally.The legislator had earlier hit the headlines after he allegedly thrashed two Dalit women and created a ruckus at a toll plaza. In September 2017, Thukral was booked for beating a man in a police station.The latest incident occurred on the afternoon of July 11 when Thukral was heading to his office in his car. A car parked on the road at PSA plaza had led to a traffic jam. After being stuck in the jam for sometime, Thukral and his guards searched for the owner. Thukral called the Awas Vikas police outpost in-charge, Hoshiyar Singh, who along with other police personnel moved the car away from the road.An infuriated Thukral then deflated the tyre of the car and directed the police to impound the vehicle. The incident was captured by a commuter on his cellphone and was soon doing the rounds on social media.Hoshiyar Singh told TOI, “The MLA called police as the car was causing a jam on the road. We towed the vehicle away from the road. I do not know what happened next.” He said that the car belonged to an employee of PSA plaza who told police that the brakes of the car had stopped working and it somehow reversed and stopped near the road.Justifying his action, Thukral said, “The owner needed to be taught civic sense. Several school students were stuck in the jam because of the negligence of the driver. I called the police and did my duty. It is up to the police now to deal with the person who blatantly violated the traffic norms.”Many, however, said that the MLA had no right to deflate tyre of the car.Sanjay Juneja, president of the Rudrapur traders’ union, said, “This is an act of arrogance. When he had already called police what was the need to deflate the tyre?”Congress city president, Jagdish Taneja, said, “This act of Thukral is against the code of conduct of a lawmaker.”

Stay updated with all the Dehradun Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.