KATHMANDU, March 31: Video footage showing a security escort vehicle belonging to the Armed Police Force rear-ending a scooter and causing injury went viral on various social media Saturday.
The vehicle, which was escorting former prime minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand to the Nepal Academy, Kamaladi to attend a function, was moving at very high speed on the Baneshwar-Maitighar road section.
The video footing was first posted on Facebook by one Sanjeeb Tamang at 11 pm on Friday. It shows a woman riding pillion on a scooter that clashes with the escort van carrying APF personnel and falling along with her male companion.
They sustained minor injuries.
When a VIP security van hits scooter along highway (with video)
The escort vehicle did not stop but kept moving with the VIP vehicle, which was also right in front.
Former prime minister Chand has said that he only came to know about the incident through security personnel on Saturday and that he wanted to meet the scooter rider.
“I was only told about the incident by AFP personnel on Sunday,” he wrote on Facebook, “I would like to meet the person whose scooter was hit.”
With social media users lashing out at the APF and the government for the reckless driving, the Metropolitan Traffic Police Office (MTPO) and the APF have started an investigation .
SP Jayaram Sapkota, spokesperson at MTPO, opined that such conduct by a security escort vehicle was unacceptable. “It could have at least stopped to help the scooter rider,” he said. He added that the APF had written to the office, promising to produce the security personnel involved in the incident.
APF spokesperson DIG Suraj Kumar Shrestha identified the AFP vehicle (Ba 1 Jha 9529) and told Republica an investigation was underway .
"We have been investigating the incident following media reports. Obviously, the video shows that there was much carelessness on the part of the APF van," he said adding that the details could be shared once the investigation was over. However, Shrestha also said the security van was doing what it should be doing: closely escorting the VIP vehicle as far as possible.
According to MTPO, APF personnel guilty in the incident will have to ask forgiveness from the scooter rider, foot the medical bill for treating injuries and also pay up to Rs 1,500 as a fine.
Click here for the video:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=586341215174800
