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NOIDA: ‘Kadhai paneer ’ was at the centre of a scuffle that broke out between a traffic cop and a driver at Divya Bhojanalaya in Sector 15 on Thursday night.

According to eyewitnesses, the driver was asking the restaurant manager to give priority to his order for the dish. Traffic head constable (promoted) Rakesh Tyagi intervened and asked him to keep his voice down.

As their argument got heated, the two allegedly exchanged slaps. However, traffic police have dismissed the incident, calling it a “scuffle over challaning”.

An eyewitness said that Gopi, the driver of a van registered with a news channel, was offended that the cook was preparing all the orders of ‘ kadhai paneer ’ together. “He was demanding his order be handed over first and got into an argument with the restaurant manager. The traffic cop, who had also come to buy food, asked Gopi to stop shouting. Gopi retorted, saying who was he to question him. The traffic cop initially ignored him but as Gopi kept arguing, he gave him a tight slap on his cheek. At this, Gopi slapped him too, inviting the second slap,” the eyewitness added.

After the slaps, Gopi “smartly pointed” to a white Indica parked outside the restaurant and told the cop to do what he wanted as he fled. The traffic cop immediately issued a challan but the car belonged to a different owner. When the Indica driver tried to explain that, the “angry” traffic cop allegedly slapped him too.

After the news broke out on social media and TV channels, Gautam Budh Nagar SSP Vaibhav Krishna ordered an inquiry into the matter. SP (traffic) Anil Jha said that traffic inspector Ravindra Vashishtha was sent to the spot and later submitted a report in this regard.

Traffic police have denied that one of them was attacked. Vashishtha said that the scuffle was over issuing challan. “There was no incident of anyone slapping or pushing the traffic cop. A car was parked in the middle of the road and was challaned. This led to an argument and scuffle,” he added.

