Indian police officers sanctioned for taking part in beauty pageant

Video appearing to be of the incident shows five cops marching down a ramp to music of Indian film

Five Indian police officers have been transferred from their serving posts in Tamil Nadu after they walked down a ramp in a beauty pageant (Screengrab: Twitter/ imjournalistRK)

Indian authorities sanctioned five police officials, including a senior officer, after they walked down the ramp in a beauty pageant, officials said on Friday.

The incident took place in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state where the Nagapattinam superintendent of police issued transfer orders for the police officials who were seen on the ramp as an audience cheered them on, reported Indian news agency ANI.

A video appearing to be of the incident, which was shared widely on social media, showed five cops, including three women, marching to the music of an Indian movie based on a police officer’s life at a private event in Mayiladuthurai in Sembanarkovil last Sunday.

The five police officers were posted on duty at the venue during the pageant.

The officers may have been urged by the contestants participating in the pageant to walk down the ramp, forcing them to finally get on the stage, according to local coverage, reported Times Now.

The transfer orders were issued on Thursday, reported The Indian Express.

Police transfers in India are carried out as an administrative step in which a personnel is shifted from one reporting station to another but is also used as a punitive measure in case of dereliction of duty.