This is a feather in the cap that the police will definitely want to dust away: the department was declared the “most corrupt” for the second consecutive year.

According to the figures available with the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) tabulated till June this year, 66 policemen were caught red-handed while accepting bribe. The revenue department followed with 46 cases registered against its employees, whereas the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) stood third with cases registered against its 18 employees.

“We are taking serious note of the complaints we receive,” said Niket Kaushik, additional police commissioner, ACB. “But our job is not to interpret the statistics and pass judgments about departments,” he added.

In 2008, 119 policemen were arrested in 93 cases registered followed by employees from the revenue department and civic bodies.

Most of those arrested on charges of corruption from the police department were class III employees. A total 60 policemen of class III (below sub-inspector), two of class II (assistant police inspector) and four of class I (above police inspector) were caught red-handed while accepting bribe last year.

“Class III employees generally come in direct contact with common man. When they demand money, the victim makes complaints after which we trap them,” observed a police officer of ACB.

The officer said that one should not conclude that corruption is more in police department.

Of the 46 revenue department employees arrested on corruption charges, one was of class IV, 38 were class III, two class II and five were class I officers.

I don’t think so

Finally a price list. I wish all the other police departments in India would do that.

A rate card of sorts for services available illegally in police lock-ups has found its way into an official bulletin, leaving the West Bengal government red-faced.

Published on September 8, a write-up in the Kolkata Police Gazette claimed that an undertrial at the Sealdah court lock-up in Kolkata could have expensive liquor by paying Rs.200 or use a mobile phone by paying Rs.100 to police personnel.

If an undertrial wants to talk to an outsider, the rate is Rs.50, according to the published chart.

In a face-saving move, the state government on Monday censured city detective chief Gyanwant Singh for the “goof-up” in the Gazette and ordered an inquiry against those involved in the printing of the bulletin.

Earlier, the chief minister had sought explanation from Singh, who was also entrusted the task of carrying out the probe.

The inquiry would focus on the role of the head assistant to Singh, deputy commissioner (I) of the detective department, and the printer of the Gazette, Home Department sources said.

While the two are part of the staff of the Calcutta police directorate, they are not police personnel.

Meanwhile, acting police commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakrabarty noted in his report that Singh, the final authority in approving of write-ups for publication, was at fault.

Chakrabarty, however, added that the officer was hard-pressed for time because of the security arrangements that had to be made for the delimitation commission session held on September 8.

Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray said Singh would be “censured in writing”. “But apart from the admonition, the government will not take any action against him because of his good record.”

A truck driver apparently speeding away from bribe-hungry cops, mowed down a motorcyclist today in West Midnapore (WB), sparking mob violence that led to a youth’s death in police firing.

Around 8.30am, when Lakshmi Ari was riding down the Ramjivanpur bypass in Chandrakona on his motorbike, a paddy-laden truck crushed him. Fifty-year-old Lakshmi died on the spot.

“I saw the truck running at high speed and crushing the motorist while trying to avoid the policemen who had definitely targeted the driver to extort money. The policemen generally ask for money from drivers here,” said Samir Mondal, 40, who was in his betel leaf shop nearby.

Almost immediately, around 200 villagers gathered at the spot, about 120km from Calcutta, and started throwing stones at the truck. They then set the vehicle ablaze.

Not finding the driver, who had escaped, the mob turned on five policemen at the accident spot and started thrashing them.

All the while, Lakshmi’s bleeding body lay on the road.

The policemen, outnumbered and cornered, pleaded with the mob, saying they were only trying to stop polluting vehicles but their words fell on deaf ears.

Reinforcements from the Ramjivanpur outpost, about 1km from the trouble spot, rushed to the area but seeing the policemen, the mob turned more violent.

Some people in the crowd allegedly hurled bombs at the cops and began chasing them towards the police outpost.

The police first did a lathicharge. In retaliation, the rapidly swelling mob set five police vehicles ablaze, including the car of Ghatal sub-divisional officer Asoke Saha who had gone there with the reinforcements.

More bombs came flying at the cops in reply to which the police lobbed tear-gas shells and fired rubber bullets.

The crowd still continued to swell — by 2pm the villagers numbered around 2,000 — and chase them.

According to the police’s account, the force fired eight rounds. One bullet hit college student Soumen De, killing him on the spot.

Soumen, who hailed from Hooghly’s Arambagh, took the bullet in the head while he was throwing stones at the police.

After the firing, the mob scattered.

“At least 15 policemen were injured, four of them seriously, because of the bricks and bombs thrown by the mob. Two of them suffered head injuries, another fractured his leg. The force fired as it was our last resort in self-defence when everything else failed,” said West Midnapore police chief Manoj Verma.

SDO Saha also said the police opened fire in self-defence. “There could have been casualties had we not opened fire,” he said, adding that the mob was “violent right from the beginning”.

“The mob was only 200-strong at the beginning but swelled within hours. They chased our men towards the Ramjivanpur outpost and went on the rampage throwing bricks and bombs and setting ablaze our vehicles parked there one after another,” Saha said.

Basudeb Das, 50, a farmer who witnessed the violence, said: “The villagers who had set the killer truck ablaze would have dispersed had the police not brought in reinforcements. They got more aggressive when the police started the lathicharge.”

Fifteen people were arrested later in police raids.

Student rage

Over a hundred hotel management students went on the rampage in Durgapur this afternoon after a classmate died in a road accident.

Abhishek Roy, 22, a final-year student of hotel management at the NSHM Academy, was knocked down by a truck while he was coming to the institute on his bike. The truck hit him when he was taking a turn near the college in Arah, on the outskirts of the steel town.

College officials and police patrolling the area rushed him to a hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.

Students of the private institute blocked the Muchipara-Shibpur Road. They ransacked the truck and were about to set the vehicle on fire when policemen stopped them. The driver had fled.

The students also threw stones at the policemen, injuring three of them.

Durgapur circle inspector Sumit Chatterjee said: “We are going to start a case against the students on the charges of attacking policemen and ransacking the truck.”

The college authorities have declared a holiday on Monday to mourn the death of Abhishek.

The Delhi Police, the national capital’s protectors, tops the list of government departments whose officials were booked for corruption in 2008.

The anti-corruption bureau, which prepared the list, says at least 20 Delhi Police personnel—from constables to inspectors—were arrested in corruption cases in the past year. Delhi Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal admits corruption is a problem in his force.

“There must have been a turnover of at least 50-70 inspectors since I’ve taken over as commissioner. We are going to take very strict action as far as corruption is concerned and I can assure you that a good part of my time is spent on reading vigilance cases,” said Dadwal.

This is the first time that the anti-corruption bureau is resorting to sting operations, an effort that has helped net a number of corrupt officials.

As many as 81 government officials were arrested for corruption in the capital last year: 20 from Delhi Police, 16 from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and 10 from the New Delhi Municipal Council.

Seven officials were from the Social Welfare Department, three from the Railway Protection Force and one from the Revenue Department. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit believes corrupt officers take advantage of people who don’t know their rights.

“Most of the time it is because of absence of knowledge of knowing what their rights are that corruption takes place. All this needs very careful study and I think the entire government is very seriously thinking how we can check that,” she said.

complaints againts corrupt police officers
Ref. 17/08

dear sir/madam
this complaint is against the officiers who are indulged in the illegal activities in the location of old delhi the residants of Lalkuan/Farashkhana/Nayabans/Khari Baoli/Shardhanand Marg are aware with these illegal and criminal activities of their localities.
the satta bazari, prostitutions, gambling, supply of drugs extortion and many other dreadfull activities are being done here on very large scale, many residants make complaints to the police station of Hauz Qazi and Lahori Gate but their complaints, their requests and their pleads makes no impression on police, the ASI and SI of the Police Station of Hauz Qazi and Lahori Gate dont want to take any action against it, they are already involved in this net. they are getting huge amount as weekly or monthly from the criminals and allow them to do whatever they want. it shows that all these un social and illegal activities are being perform with the consent of these corrupt officers. people made many complaints to the police but their are gone to the dustbin, in other words we can say that these two police stations have become head quarter of crimnals, in such setuations how can a person makes a complaint to the police where police itself runs these activities.
my only request to you is to make the CBI enquiry against the Sub Inspectors and Assistant Inspectors so that a big racket will be unveiled.
This will help the soceity and the nation too

He tried everything to get justice for his son. He pleaded to the police to take action but in return they asked him for Rs. 50, 000. So, in an effort to shake up the system and also scrounge for the bribe money, Jubaan, an incense stick seller whose six year old son was run over by a car, stood outside Karkardooma Court and begged for money.

The money he collected Rs 280 was then converted into a demand draft and sent to the Delhi Police commissioner.

Jubaan’s ordeal began last year in November when his son Jeetu was run over by a speeding car near the Jagatpuri Red Light in East Delhi. Eyewitnesses, which included a lawyer, took down the number of the car and gave it to Jubaan. He took it to the police. But they allegedly did not file a case despite the fact that the boy died the same day.

His lawyer Vivek Bhardwaj said, “He has been running from pillar to post for the last seven months. First the police did not register an FIR. He finally managed that in December last year. A case was registered at Anand Vihar Police Station. Even after he gave the police the registration number of the car, they did not take any action. Whenever he went to the police, he was beaten and then asked for Rs. 50, 000.”

On Wednesday, he sat with his family in front of Karkardooma Court and begged for alms from the people coming to the court. “He has never begged in his life but the police have made him do that as well. He just wants the person who is responsible for his son’s death behind bars. But in return they beat and humiliate him. People who read the poster in which he had told his story readily gave him the money.” On Wednesday, they went and made a demand draft and sent it to the Delhi Police Commissioner. In the covering letter they have asked him to give this money to the corrupt officers who would not help him out, as he could not cough up the money.

Here is an attempt to
go behind the scenes to trace how a police officer of the rank of
sub-inspector functions in Goa, a western state of India, from his recruitment to becoming part of the well-oiled bribery system, which is the legacy of every police installation.
“Encounter Specialist” Daya Nayak, of the Mumbai
police, was suspended after a probe by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB)
into his allegedly disproportionate assets revealed they exceeded his
known sources of revenue.
Raids on the house of someone like him, who has been the inspiration for many a Bollywood
flick, revealed that he and his wife had acquired assets worth INR
41.75 lakh (US$94,671). As a sub-inspector at Charkop police station,
Nayak drew a salary of only INR 9,000 (US$204 /per month).
In
2003, an independent crime branch inquiry into Nayak’’s assets
concluded that he is involved in film financing. Further, he owned
hotels in Switzerland, Dubai and Goa. That wasn”t all; he also owned at least three flats in Mumbai.

Nayak hails from Mangalore, and made it big in Mumbai, gaining fame
between 1998 and 2001 in gunning down 83 gangsters in allegedly staged
“encounters,” which inspired the Hindi film “Ab Tak Chhappan.”

Mario is a physical education teacher at a Catholic school in the State
of Goa. As a youth he was a champion athlete at university and won many
awards.
After graduation he had his sights set on entering the
police force as a police cadet. He had all the sports certificates and
the physical attributes to back him up, along with his academic
qualifications. Also, his father had been a freedom fighter against
Portuguese colonialism.
That was some twenty years ago. Mario
never made it into the police force, not passing the vision
requirements. It turns out that was just a pretext for the
powers-that-be to get him off the list.
He was competing in a field of over 50 graduates, all of whom were vying for the 15-odd posts of sub-inspector in the Goa
police force. The fifteen vacancies all went to candidates who could
shell out INR 1.5 lakh (US$3,400) for the posts. Mario failed to
qualify as he was not ready to pay the bribe. He wanted to be a genuine
police officer without paying bribes and strike at the evils in
society.
Instead of combating illegal
activities as a police officer he ended up by lecturing kids in the
classroom and passing on the skills he had learned in sports.
In
the last two decades a lot has changed, including the police forces.
The price a new recruit into the force has to pay corrupt politicians
has shot up to INR 5 lakh (US$11,338).
Paresh is one such new entrant, who has just finished his two-year probation period – one year
at the Nashik training academy in the western state of Maharashtra and
the remaining year getting practical training at five different police
stations in Goa.
He is now looking for a posting at one of Goa’’s
numerous police precincts. His first assignment would be to work as a
sub-inspector (PSI) under a police inspector (PI), who is in turn responsible to the deputy superintendent of police (DYSP).

Goa has a DYSP and SP in each of the eleven talukas . Goa, in addition,
has a narcotics bureau, a tourist and traffic department and now the
marine police.
Paresh’’s parents have invested half a million
rupees (US$11,338) in him in the hope that he will work it off over
time. Tot hope to recover the amount through his salary, which would
take some ten years.
So, what is the course that Paresh could
follow to recover the money his parents have invested in him to get the
post? He cannot be in a hurry, needing to learn the ropes of how to
extort a bribe.
His first posting is in the coastal area of
Colva, one of the famous beaches of Goa with a very “hectic” police
station, meaning a “lucrative” posting in police parlance, in fact, the
most sought-after posting in terms of potential revenue from extortion.

After three months at Colva, the tourist season has just began.
Paresh is on his beat, answerable to his superior, Nelson.  The station
officer in charge is the person who answers to his superiors whenever
anything adverse occurs in his jurisdiction, so everything must be
under control.
That does not mean, however, that Paresh has to come down hard on the illegal activities that take place in his beat area, which would be like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

The only choice for Paresh then is to monitor violations on his beat
using the feedback from his beat constables, who are acquainted with
all the persons who do illegal business on the beach. Continuity is
maintained even when constables and police officers are transferred,
the outgoing ones introducing their replacements to the persons
involved in the illegal trade.  His mission is to get acquainted with
all the persons who bring in the moolah for the Colva police station,
which is then shared out according to rank.
Head constable
Anthony Gomes has prepared a list of contacts in the area for Paresh,
names of new “friends,” starting with the gamblers. Pedro runs a dice
game (”goddgodo”) at each of the football tournaments and tiatrs (folk
dramas-ed.) in the Colva police station jurisdiction. Then comes
Inacio, he is the agent for an illegal lottery known as “matka.” Then
there’’s John, who supplies call girls to foreign and Indian tourists.
Paul is a small-time drug dealer and also runs water sports activities on the beach illegally, without permission from the Tourism Department.

John is an ex-fisherman who now ferries foreign tourists to Bat Island.
He does not have permission to ferry tourists nor does he adhere to
safety regulations, all reasons for his name turning up on Paresh’’s
list. Then there’’s Shiva, a hawker on the beach, speaking 15 foreign
languages. But the only language police know is the language of money.

Hirappa is the unofficial leader of the hawkers on the beach. For years
he has been collecting bribes from them and handing it over to the beat
constable concerned.  Each hawker had to pay INR 100 or US$2.27 per
week to the precinct and 75 INR or US$1.70 to the tourist police every
day.
Then there was Dominic, a teenage boy who rented scooters to
tourists. Next on the list is Anthony, a partner in a beachside shack
restaurant, a hot spot for late night beach parties.
With late
night music having to come to an end at 11 p.m., restaurant owners pay
the police to keep the music and their business going without any
hassles.
Then there was the beach masseur, Linappa Malappa,
originally from Karnataka, but for the last ten years doing business on
the beach.
These persons would contribute a regular stream of
income to the police station during the tourist season from October to
February every year. The beat constable who welcomes them also collects
the take.
The average monthly collection, normally around INR 2
lakh (US$4,542), has to be split with the DYSP and SP of the taluka. As
for Paresh, his share would be some INR 10,000 (US$227), in addition to
his regular salary.
Tyson is just shy of 22 but has been
innumerable times in and out of prison cells. His is a familiar face to
the police, but the last time he went behind bars is now a year ago.
From a juvenile to a seasoned criminal, he is now a police informant.
It’’s snitches like Tyson who keep Paresh happy.