2hours @ police station - eNidhi India Travel Blog

2hours @ police station


Yesterday I got to spend some time in the Police station- NO, I wasn’t busted by police, just went there to meet a old friend.

Early in the morning, I went to the lodge where he was staying. I was welcomed by this cute little one.

As I went up and asked the room boy which is room no xyz (note: exact room no withheld due to security reasons), the room boy asked ಯಾರ್ ಸಾರ್? ಪೋಲಿಸ್ನೋರ? (police person?) and guided me in. TV9 was showing some rowdy being killed in police encounter.

After initial pleasantries, he got ready and we went to his station. Our first encounter was with a civilian dressed official from traffic police dept, who’d complained that some unknown guys rounded him up and beat him heavily while he was having food. Since the victim couldn’t identify/suspect anyone, Sunil asked his assistant to meet the restaurant owner (where this guy was having food) and collect more information from him to investigate.

One person had come to collect is 1987 model Yahama RX135- Police had seized it as it had no proper number plate and rider didn't have any documents. Now that he came with original RC book which was almost deteriorated, the vehicle was examined for correct engine no, chassis no and then handed over to the owner, with a warning to fix the number plate immediately.

We went inside, there was a man against whom there was a complaint that he always beats his wife. Another person was also held for repeated petty crimes. Both these people pleaded innocent during initial interrogation and were asked to wait. There was an cupboard in his chamber which was double locked. for a moment I thought- If the one in Police station needs double locking, how safe are things outside?

Since Peenya is an industrial area and has workers from outside the state it has very low recovery rate for thefts. Unlike other places where the thief resides locally and tries to sell the stolen goods locally, thefts in Peenya happen wherein outsiders steal something while returning to their home towns and that becomes very difficult to trace (this is a typical scenario, need not be always)

Computerization of police department has been minimal and there’s still huge volume of paperwork that needs to be done for every small and regular activity. Despite some recent recruitment, there’s still severe shortage of staff. Lot of efforts are also spent in dealing with politically motivated escalations.

I got to have a closer look at his official weapon, which was heavy (about half a kilo when loaded). I’m told this weapon has a very short range of 30 meters, can fire 10 bullets per magazine and is practically ineffective against modern weapons. On his table, there was a booklet published by the commissioner of police, which included photos and description of all petty offenders in the city. Then came a call from an MLA, who said “ನಮ್ ಹುಡುಗ್ರನ್ನ ಯಾರೋ ಹೊಡ್ದವರಂತೆ, ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ವಿಚಾರಿಸಿ ” (someone has beaten up our boys-check on that).

An auto driver and his passengers arrived at the station. Passenger complained that “I travel from place x(I forgot the name) to Jalahalli cross everyday and fare comes to around 73-74 rupees, today meter has crossed 90 rupees and still I’ve not reached-there’s something wrong with the meter”. Auto driver insisted nothing wrong from his side and said his meter is correct. After taking auto details and promising a check, a compromise was arranged between both parties as an immediate resolution.

As we spoke, I introduced him to the idea of facebook and twitter, since he is still relying on orkut for social networking. However he had no time for this as work was piling up.
 
There was roll call to be done (assigning daily task to all staff). The constable doing the duty of sentry had to be relieved, but his replacement was not around. teams had to be sent out for regular patrolling, for specific investigations and visitors and their complaints had to be attended to.

I asked him for his opinion on VS Acharya, he said Acharya sir is very honest and respectable man.

As I was getting late, I took leave and left. Wishing him all the best and good luck Bengaluru Police
Related: Encounter Dayanayak *

November 2010 Update:
Below is a brief video about India's reputed police officer, Kiren Bedi

18 comments:

  1. This makes for a very interesting read! I am wondering if any of our cops tweet?

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  2. Lots of transformation has to happen in the police department. Modernising their weapons and computerisation should be of the highest priority..

    ReplyDelete
  3. The police are grossly understaffed to handle the population and crime rate in India.

    Your post has given a nice insight into what goes on.

    As for the recovery rate for thefts, it is only to be expected. Small theft is the most common of crimes and is the hardest ones to solve on most occasions. Even with more personnel the police will struggle to investigate all those cases.

    ReplyDelete
  4. HI shrinidhi
    Did you travel from Bangalore to Cheenai, to attend the Bloggers meet there?
    --


    Wanna want to know how the Hyderabad Bloggers enjoyed the IndiBloggers meet

    http://www.indiblogger.in/bloggermeet.php?id=70

    -----


    It was a great meet and an opportunity to meet fellow bloggers in blood.

    Just to keep the momentum, I have created a new Group on Linkedin - Indibloggers.

    I invite all of you to join this Group.

    In the long run, this will aid not only in personal development but also professional development.



    http://www.linkedin.com/groups?viewMembers=&gid=2945994&sik=1270992008306

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks Aarti...

    Ram, Agreed

    Hari,
    Agree. Like you he has also studied law

    Prashanth,

    I work out of Chennai, and was in Bangalore to attend a press talkshow by SAP, called SME Legend 2010

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wat about those guns you have put they are pretty fancy dude lol lol
    :-) :-) :-)

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  7. Hmmm sounds like an honest down to earth guy... the bike was returned just like that ? without any bribe??? Glad to hear/read that :)

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  8. Thanks Sandeep and Tech...

    Tech, it is a real gun...

    Anu,
    yes bike was returned after complete verification. I didn't see any money changing hands, assume nothing was taken

    ReplyDelete
  9. nice post -there was once a 13 year old mentally challenged guy who had come over in the last bus and was lurking around our area and he entered our house ,we thought he was a thief,arnd 1 am .Soon the entire neighbourhood had got up and everybody was ready to thrash him.only then when my dad stopped everybody and realized he has mentally challenged.We took him to the police station -it was arnd 2:30 am by then and can you imagine the officers were having their dinner.I really felt sad for them.

    The officer on duty was really tired,but he listened to us patiently and made sure the boys parents were found the next day.

    ReplyDelete
  10. hi nidhi,u have wrote some good things about us,but still there is lot more to know about the inner life of police personnel,due to work load we intend to loose our personal life,it goes unnoticed by all,we are expected to work for round the clock,we are answerable to everyone,people expect police to do all the job of them,and sometimes our things go wrong,people wont agree to us,and they trouble us in all mode,and the justice get deferred,more over due to the confusing laws of our country whole system getting rotten,[i do expect criticism from u all]

    ReplyDelete
  11. The Wild:
    Thanks. Can you share the details as to which police station and which city? Do you know the name of police officer?


    Sunil:
    Thanks. I got an idea of the challenges faced by you and your colleagues... Next time, I'll spend some more time...

    Let me also write a comment at VS Acharya's blog... let me see if that gets approved...

    ReplyDelete
  12. BSK police station - blore

    i dont recollect the name of the police officer ,it was atleast 5 years ago.

    Arjun V

    ReplyDelete
  13. nice one .. keep posting about unique experiences :)

    ReplyDelete

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