Comment Pieces

Honouring the Indian police force

Disclaimer: To whomsoever it may concern, I Paid a Bribe hereby declares that it is, by no means, anti-police.

The comment pieces based on the police forces’ shenanigans are merely part of an attempt to look at the lighter side of their corrupt deeds.

Plus, we can’t help but take notice of the endless number of reports we receive against the department, day in and day out.

Judging by the varied nature of complaints/ reports that we receive against the department, and the sheer creativity with which they fleece each victim, the Indian police force is certainly worthy of mention.

Consider the novel methods they conjure up each time that leave commoners like us dumbstruck, quite literally, every time! In all honesty, irrespective of how corrupt the force is becoming by the day, one simply cannot ignore the heights their creativity and ingenuity is reaching.  Read below some examples to substantiate the statements made above

Instance 1:- Have you ever heard of a rule that doesn’t allow a car driver to travel with passengers who are not his/her blood relatives? No? Read this excerpt to know what I mean

“The traffic cop asked me who is the owner of the car…Then he quizzed me and asked who are the passengers in the car. We were 4 members. A cousin of mine & two friends i told. To my shock he demanded me a permit for driving the car. I was shocked to hear the word "permit" for a own board car from a traffic cop. He said that i cannot accompany my friends in my car as per the Motors vehicles Act. That was a crazy statement. According to him "A person can accompany blood relations only as it’s a personal car". This is what the traffic cop said. I was speechless. I demanded him to show the concerned part of the Motors vehicles Act which he refused and demanded Rs.5000 as a penalty.”

Mind you, only an extremely clever person such as this policeman can think of such a con off the cuff.

Instance 2:- Certain policemen maintain a mental checklist of loopholes that expose them to the possibility of extorting a bribe. This policeman from Mumbai ensured he allowed his victims to go, only after his pocket was heavier.

“It was very clear from the beginning that the intent of the policemen stationed over there was to extort money, may be they had to meet some month-end quota. (He) gave us the following choices: 1) Deposit my license with him, take the slip and appear in the court to pay the fine of 1500 or 2) Pay him 500 on the spot; he was unwilling to lower this amount saying that Rs.100/- bribe was for jumping signal.”

If the Motor Vehicles Act has a list of fines prescribed for each traffic offence, our traffic policemen have their own list of ‘bribes’!

Instance 3:- We mustn’t ignore the good samaritan in the corrupt policeman from  Pune who advised one of his victims to visit the RTO to pay the road tax, in order to avoid a similar encounter in the future.

“I agreed to pay him (traffic policeman) Rs.1000 and left. He then advised me to visit RTO and approach an agent who can help me pay the Maharashtra tax and avoid this trouble in the future.”

What would we do without the foresight of such policemen?!