Superstition Struck Chennai Traffic Cop Hits Rationality For Toss To Avoid Accidents, Here’s How

The ritual included smashing the pumpkin more than once on the road and offering prayers around it.

Superstition VS Rationality: There is a very thin line between faith and superstition. It is a well-established fact that a majority of the population, not just in India but the rest of the world, is under the influence of centuries-old legends and their belief in superstitions and fallacies.

And it is even more surprising and painful when the educated endorse the irrational, more so if they happen to be a traffic cop who has a big responsibility of making sure that the traffic moves smoothly and the safety and security of the road users.

This is when things went awry in Chennai, Tamil Nadu where a city Traffic Police official made a trans person perform puja by smashing pumpkins and lemons on the ground to “ward off evil” at an accident-prone road in the capital city of the state, as reported by India Today.

According to the report, a special sub-inspector (SSI) with the Greater Chennai Traffic Police (GCTP) brought a trans person from the police van and stood nearby while the full ritual was done.

The ritual included smashing the pumpkin more than once on the road and offering prayers around it. This ritual was carried out on the road near Vanagaram and Maduravoyal which is notorious for being accident-prone.

Following the incident, the inspector was reportedly removed from duty and reposted in the control room, says the India Today report.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Kapil Kumar Saratkar reacted to the incident and said while it was “well-intended” it was a “totally avoidable act by the officer who took his personal belief too far adding that GCTP only believes in “rational and scientific analysis and study of causes and remedies of accidents”.

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