Bengaluru: We're traffic cops, you can't film our offences!

Bengaluru: The traffic police don’t seem to learn their lesson. Just days after a traffic policeman, riding without a helmet, attacked a youngster filming him, two incidents of traffic cops allegedly assaulting and slapping false cases against two motorists have been reported in the city. The only mistake the two hapless vehicle users committed was that they questioned the inappropriate behaviour of traffic policemen on duty.

Mr Abhijeet Sarkar, a bank manager, was the target of traffic policemen’s wrath after he questioned them for letting a rider without helmet go scot free. When Mr Sarkar tried to click a picture of the policemen, he was allegedly dragged by his collar, made to delete the picture and was threatened with dire consequences if he dared to question the police. In another incident, Mr Karthik C., a software professional, accidentally entered a one-way on Thursday night. A traffic policeman allegedly pushed him to the road, snatched his bike keys and abused him in filthy language. When Mr Karthik questioned the cop’s behaviour, he was slapped with a false challan for reckless driving.  

Even more surprising was the reply from the Bengaluru Traffic Police’s official Facebook page to Mr Sarkar’s complaint. The reply read, “We are very sorry for the inconvenience you have faced from the traffic police. They will be asked to be calm and polite with the citizens and the same will be intimated to the traffic police inspector concerned to look into the matter.”

Cops go wild, citizens at the receiving end

Think twice the next time you question cops on duty! They have the power to book you for an offence you have not committed. They may even pull you by your collar on the road, push you to the ground and berate you in public.

The city traffic police, who had provided the citizens to report any traffic violation on Public Eye, are now robbing citizens of that very right.

In one such incident, a motorist who tried to click the picture of an erring cop for not booking a helmet-less  rider, was allegedly threatened, abused and assaulted by traffic policemen on duty and forced to delete the picture of the erring cop.

The incident came to light when Abhijeet Sarkar, a manager at a private bank, visited the Bengaluru traffic police official page to report the highhandedness of the cops on duty on January 13.

Sarkar, who was on his way to work, had a nightmarish experience with the cops attached to the Banaswadi traffic police. In his complaint, Sarkar alleged that, as he was heading for work, he was stopped by a traffic constable on duty who booked him for riding a two-wheeler without a helmet near the Indian Oil Bridge on the Banaswadi Main Road.

As he was about to pay the requisite fine he noticed that the same constable, by the name of Dhananjaya R.N., was speaking on a mobile phone given to him by another person “who was caught before me.”

“As I waited for him to finish the conversation, the cop let one of the riders go scot-free, who had committed the same violation, after talking to someone over the phone.

“As I was unable to understand what just happened, I asked him why the other person was let off even though he was not wearing a helmet. The cop refused to answer me and soon an argument ensued,” said, Mr. Sarkar.

The cop allegedly added another offence to Sarkar’s challan which read – “misbehaving with the police”.

“When the traffic constable added another fine on my challan, I approached a senior inspector on duty.

“When I repeated my ordeal to her, she clearly told me that sometimes, cops let people off, when advised by ‘influential’ people and that I should not interfere in the matter. As I wanted to take it up with the BTP authorities for clarification, I later took my phone out to take a picture of the erring cop. He immediately pounced on me along with the help of another cop and tried to snatch my phone and started threatening me to delete the photo.”

While Sarkar tried to reason with the cops, the lady inspector on duty allegedly threatened him with dire consequences if he continued to argue.

 “The cop refused to accept the fine and told me to go to court and settle it on my own. He also told me to do whatever I wanted as he didn’t care about the consequences. He then caught me by my collar and tried to drag me away using force,” said Sarkar.

It was only after submitting to their demands, that Mr. Sarkar requested the inspector to accept the fine and release his vehicle. “I did not misbehave with the police and refuse to pay the fine, but only questioned their practices as I felt it was my right to question them as a tax-paying citizen,” lamented Mr. Sarkar.

Not an isolated incident
In another incident, a software professional was pushed on to the road along with his bike, abused  and wrongly booked by traffic cops when he questioned them for their rowdism on Thursday  night near the Devarabisanahalli Junction for entering a one-way.

Karthik C, a resident of Varthur, who works in Accenture at Ecospace, recently joined the office. On Thursday night at around 8 pm he was heading home when he met with an appalling incident. Karthik told Deccan Chronicle, “I was heading home when I took a right turn at Devarabisanahalli Junction, on  the service road. As I had newly joined the office, I was unaware about the service road being a one-way. Upon realizing that I’d entered a one-way, I immediately stopped my bike and started reversing it, when a cop came from behind, pushed  me to the ground and took the keys of my bike, which led to me falling on the road with my bike.”

“A few pedestrians helped me get up and pick up my bike. After parking my bike on the side I approached the cops and asked them why they pushed me when they saw me reversing, at which point the cops began hurling abuses at me.

“When I resisted their violence  and asked for my keys, they pushed me again along with my bike to the ground.

“They took my DL and slapped two challans of a total of '400 on me which stated that I’d entered a one-way. The other was for reckless and dangerous driving,” said Karthik.

After Karthik took the matter higher up, he was shell shocked when he learnt that the erring cop had reported an assault case against Karthik.

“After I reported the matter, I received a call from a senior inspector who told me that the cops told him that it was me who attacked the two and manhandled them. However, the cop in question has been asked to give a written complaint in this regard,’ added Karthik.