- Bribe Hotline
- 7 years ago
- 253 views
This is about the experience I had last night at Jayamahal. It was
This is about the experience I had last night at Jayamahal. It was about 11 30pm in the night and I was dropping one of my friends near her place at Jayamahal after dinner, and had parked in the lane outside her place.
Suddenly, we saw two cops come up to our car. I was not afraid, as I believed policemen are always there to help. They asked us what we were doing there. I explained to them saying we're just friends, we were just chatting, and we'll get back home now. This is when the real ordeal started. They started by taking all my personal details and I obliged, but now they wanted the personal details of the girl I was with. I told them it's late, and she's a lady so requested them to let her get home. They got angry, when I told them the rule I had heard about ladies not being interrogated or taken to a police station after 7pm in the evening.
They challenged me and called the Hoysala. All this, only because I was talking to a female friend at 11 30 pm just before dropping her home after dinner, in a free country. I was judged, my friend was judged. They kept flinging allegations like 'How do we know you guys are friends and not anything else? Give us proof.' and we were asked for our parents numbers and vile threats, which was basically blackmail. I told them we were both adults here and there was no need to involve parents. Knowing I had done no wrong and provided them with all my details, I told them it's our personal life and why involve parents. By this time, the Hoysala had arrived and I told my friend to go home, and they let her.
I tried to reason with the inspector in the Hoysala, trying to explain my situation. I told him I was an engineer working for an MNC, that I've had no cases against me and that I was just talking to my friend and was about to leave home. But, I was taken aback by the most abusive replies. It started with something like 'Thikka muchko laude!'. This gentleman was so loud and brash, that the entire neighborhood was now up and I was now being treated like a criminal and threatened with being arrested. My fault, talking to a friend in the car at 11 30 pm. So much for the freedom in this country. I was blackmailed, threatened with a police case. When I asked them what were the charges, I was met with just more rude behavior. Finally the inspector in the Hoysala commanded his subordinates to take me to the Police station with a threat of detaining me and he left.
So now I had a policeman in my car escorting me to the JC nagar police station, he was the 'Good cop' and the 'Bad cop' was escorting us there on his bike. Here the good cop explained to me how I was wrong to question the police and they were doing all this for public safety. Like most decent people, I didn't want to get into trouble so I apologized to him, pleading him incessantly to let me go. He said I'd have to talk to the 'Bad cop', which I did. But the bad cop was determined to teach me a lesson, just because I told them it was illegal to detain woman after 7pm in the evening. He had taken it personally. The 'Good cop' kept hinting on just paying a fine, which would get me out of this pickle. Knowing that all they were looking for was a bribe I asked him ' What fine sir? Tell me the amount'. He was still confused about how much to take me for a ride for. Finally, he convinced his buddy 'Bad cop' to let me go for a 'fine'.
I was taken to an ATM, where I withdrew the money and hesitantly handed over Rs 500 to the good cop. He demanded for Rs 1000 since his seniors in the Hoysala would want a cut of it too, but he let me go when I told him I barely had enough money for the rest of the week. I was both relieved, angry and disappointed at the same time.
Relieved that my character wouldn't be slandered, at least I was out of the police records. A bad record would've probably cost me my job and the visa to the country I had applied for, in hopes to make a career.
Angry, cause I had actually paid a bribe for no wrong doing of mine and that both of us were harassed publicly for being of opposite sexes and unmarried. Apparently, a friendship between a boy and a girl is unnatural and wrong.
But the thing that pains me the most, is that the Police have been reduced to mere goondas in uniform looking to make an easy buck out of threats and intimidation, the victims here being the decent law abiding common public.
I don't expect to get any sort of justice out of this whole story. Paying a bribe was wrong on my part and my conscience is hurt. Penning this story was the only way to tell people that while there may be good cops, not every cop is a Knight in shining armour.
Bad cop name: Shivlingaiah or something
Date of incident: 24/09/2017
Time: 11 30 pm
Location: Jayamahal, Bangalore.
Police Station : JC Nagar, Bangalore
Designation: Constable
What case can they have against me and the girl I was with?