Kasaragod: A civil police officer has been booked for rash driving after he sped away from a polling station to avoid being checked for drunkenness, minutes after he allegedly misbehaved with the presiding officer. Adhur police identified the accused as Anoop John, attached to the Kanhangad Police Control Room.

The incident took place on Wednesday at the Government Upper Primary School at Bovikanam in Muliyar panchayat, while preparations were underway on the eve of the election.

As the presiding officer was setting up the polling booth, Anoop walked into the classroom wearing a white ‘mundu’ and shirt. Mistaking him for a political worker, the presiding officer asked what he was doing there. Anoop replied that he was a police officer. When she asked why he wasn’t in uniform if he was indeed an officer, Anoop shot back by asking who she was. When she replied that she was a teacher, he casually questioned why she wasn’t wearing a sari. The remark made the presiding officer suspect that he might be under the influence of alcohol.

She immediately alerted her superiors, following which Adhur Inspector Vishnu Prasad and his team reached the spot and attempted to take Anoop into custody. Anoop reportedly said he would “change his clothes and return,” but instead picked up his bag and quietly slipped out. He then drove off in his car, leaving the police team outmanoeuvred.

Inspector Vishnu Prasad said that Anoop was booked only under Section 281 of the BNS for rash driving. “We wanted to check if he was drunk, but he drove dangerously away. So he is booked only for rash driving,” he said.