'I look good': Man tweets to Pune police after challan for no helmet. The banter is viral

The photo taken by Pune police's traffic camera. (Image: @CherianMelvin/Twitter)

When entrepreneur Melvin Cherian received a challan for not wearing a helmet, he decided to tweet the photo to Pune police. And then a hilarious banter followed.

“Thank you @PuneCityPolice. I look good. Will pay the chalan though,” Cherian, the co-founder of a health tech firm, tweeted with his photo that showed him not wearing a helmet. A few of his fellow commuters around him were also seen without a helmet in the picture.

And Pune police replied to Cherian soon enough. “Sure,” tweeted Pune police on his readiness to pay the fine adding: “P.S: A black helmet will go very well with that nice black jacket though.”

Sure.

P.S: A black helmet will go very well with that nice black jacket though. #WearAHelmet https://t.co/7klwKw6TR2

— (@PuneCityPolice) December 7, 2022

However, this didn’t end there. While many publications ran articles on this banter, one caught Cherian’s eye where his tweet was deemed “arrogant”.

Quoting the article by the publication, Cherian wrote: “Finally got a taste of how media works. It wasn’t arrogant, it was fun. Their response as a quote tweet was fun too. The country has too many serious matters. Let’s take it easy.”

Instances of people tweeting to police departments regarding challans have become common now with most times cops responding with solid proof of them violating traffic rules.

In October this year, a Twitter user was left red-faced after challenging Bengaluru Traffic Police to provide proof of his traffic violation – only to have them deliver damning evidence within minutes.

The user, who goes by the name Felix Raj, was issued a challan for not wearing a helmet. He decided to challenge the fine – but his stunt backfired when Bengaluru Traffic Police shared a CCTV image of him riding a scooter without a helmet.