Cop questions tea vendor without mask, assaulted

Though the incident happened on April 17, police made the arrest after the video of the tea vendor assaulting the policeman went viral on social media.

Sources said that Deepak (31), a head constable attached to the Thirupanandal police station near Kumbakonam, while patrolling the area saw Nandavarman (25), a resident of the same area selling tea on a bicycle without wearing mask.

Deepak intercepted and questioned Nandavarman as to why he was not wearing mask. The cop also warned the tea vendor that he would file a case against him. But Nandavarman was unmoved and ignored the warning of the police.

Irked by this, Deepak asked Nandavarman to leave the spot and this triggered a verbal altercation and later both started hurling blows at each other. At one point, Deepak picked up a log and hit Nandavarman. Angered by this, Nandavarman grabbed the log and retaliated.

Some bystanders, who had recorded the assault incident on their phones, circulated the video which went viral on social media from Monday. After seeing this, they arrested Nanadavarman.