Encounter with policeman at Inner Ring Road, Bangalore

[wanderingwheels]

So, it was yet another day in my life, or so I thought.

I work for an organization in Shivaji Nagar. I live near Dell Office in Inner Ring Road. So, the route I usually take is Shivaji Nagar -> MG Road -> Old Airport Road -> Inner Ring Road -> Home. Yesterday, 31 May 2011, I left office a little late, around 10 pm, not unusual in my profession. I got off the Domlur Flyover and was heading towards Eejipura at a normal speed, about 40kmph. About 100 m ahead past the flyover, a motorcyclist came close to me and asked me to pull over. I glanced at him and thought he needed help. I slowed down and pulled over. He was a police man, no, not a traffic policeman.

Me: Hi
PM: Where are you coming from?
Me: Shivaji Nagar (I showed my company ID)
PM: Your vehicle is wanted by police, right?
Me: No, I don't think so.
PM: You are riding a stolen bike, RTO has issued notice for this bike.
Me: No, this is my bike, it was not stolen.
PM: Where are you going? Where is the registration book and license?
Me: I'm heading home. I'm not carrying it but I can get it from my home, it's near by (my bad that I was not carrying the documents).
PM: No, no, it is an offense to ride a bike that is not registered.
Me: Err.. but my bike is registered, I have the documents.

At this point, he got off his bike, parked it at the pavement and told me that he would take my bike to police station. He got a call from his senior, asking him to get a veg biryani. In the meantime, I got thinking. What is he trying to do here? I did not break any rule. Yes, I was not carrying the documents but I can produce the docs and reclaim my bike. My plan to go home and cook chapathi and aalu curry were not going to work out. As soon as he dropped the call, he asked me for my bike's keys. As I handed it over, he asked me to go with him to the police station. Back to conversation mode.

PM: Get on the bike, you are coming to the police station with me.
Me (really annoyed now, that's what a long day does to you): I'm not going anywhere. You can take my bike if you want, I will come with the documents and claim my bike tomorrow. What's your name?

I got my phone out to note the details down.

PM: Mallappa, what will you do? Will you call the commissioner? Who will you call, huh? (he sounded really pissed)
Me (equally pissed): No, I'm just noting the details. Whats your badge number?
PM: OK, write it down. 3479 and I am from HAL police station.
Me: OK, can I see some ID (in "Catch me if you can" style, hehe)
PM: He pulls out his ID and shows me.

I took a snap of it.

The pic is not clear, due to the flash light reflected from the laminated surface. Bad photography.

PM: Take it, you want to take my pic too?
Me: Sure, thank you sir (smile please mallappa , ok, im just kidding, i didn't say that).

PM: Now, you are coming with me to the police station.
Me: I'm not coming to the police station. I worked more than 12 hours today and I'm going home. You cannot take me to the station. Do you have a warrant? You are not even a traffic policeman. What right do you have to stop me? (I was shouting).
PM: I don't need a warrant. You are a suspect and you are riding a stolen vehicle.
Me: I repeat, my bike is not stolen. You can take it to the station. I will come and get it and pay any fine, if needed.
PM: You can't pay fine, you have done a crime. I will take you to police station.
Me: What crime? I will write about this on internet and newspapers.
PM: You are riding an illegal vehicle (it was no longer stolen, note the point). It is altered like a racing bike. It is illegal.
Me (I was shouting at the top of my voice now): What modification have I done? (the only mod I have done is adding a motocross kind front mud flap).
PM: Where do you stay?
Me: I stay in *******
PM: Are you related to the owner of hotel *******
Me: No, i'm not. I'm not that rich. I told him my landlord's name
PM: Oh, is it? He is my uncle. OK, you go home (smiling and trying to be friendly) and tell uncle that Mallappa stopped you and asked about your bike.
Me: OK fine. Thanks.
PM: Do not ride without registration book. Keep a copy of it. I will come to your house tomorrow morning to verify the docs.
Me: OK sir.
PM: Your vehicle is not stolen right?
Me: No.
PM: OK then.

This took around 5-10 minutes. Passers-by were staring at me and shopkeepers came out to check what was happening.

I was enraged at the way this cop terrorized me. Mind you, I was riding my bike, at a slow pace, when he asked me to pull over. He had a sort of nastiness about him and he was extremely rude, alleging that my bike was stolen and that I was wanted by the RTO.

I am also at fault, for not carrying the documents but hey, I do have the documents safe in my possession.

I'm writing about this to create awareness. This guy probably wanted to scare me and extract money from me. However, as I knew I did not do anything wrong, I put up a fight. I do not know what made him decide that he would let me go. I got home in five minutes and narrated the whole episode to my roommate. If you live in this area, please watch out for this officer. Do not bribe him. Do the right thing.

Yet another day in my life.

The bad cop: Mallappa, 3479, HAL Police Station (as mentioned by him)

Lesson learned: Staying calm helps.

http://lifeisawhiledoloop.blogspot.com/ ... -ring.html

Pics of the policeman and his badge are on my blog.

[wanderingwheels]

I was riding my Yamaha, not a 'bike'.

[Hussein_reins]

Cops!!! Phew!!!

Thanks for sharing this Arjun!

I once had a cop suspect that i was a terrorist just on the basis that i was Muslim.This was despite having all required documents at hand. I got super pi*&ed and shouted at him, which didn't offer much help.

Like you've said, staying calm helps better!!!

[cryptic_abbreviator]

<deleted post>

[Hussein_reins]

"RBI provided document" LOL

On the same day I was jailed in the "police vandi" while sitting in my make-shift jail, i had the pleasure of over-hearing the radio transmission from the control room. The guy giving instructions was Asst. Commissioner or something.

Repeatedly he went:

" Entha vandiyum vidaadeenga, nalla periya case ethavathu venum " - Check all vehicles, need a big case tonight

They work just like how credit card/ Loan sales people do. Month end/ Target and all.

[cryptic_abbreviator]

"RBI provided document" LOL

lol ! how did you manage to read that from a deleted post !
ciao
gr

[Hussein_reins]

I jumped on it the moment you posted it. Probably i was the only one who read it. And just when I was feeling proud that I have started to decrypt your language "BOOM" post deleted.

Feels good to know that you once were in Madras GR

[wanderingwheels]

That's fucking outrageous man!! I,m glad you're over it. Try not to bribe if you know you are right. Think of your options.

In the face of adversity, i always think of the worst and best possible outcomes. If the worst is not too bad, i stay back and fight.

Over the years, a few things I have come to practise are -
Don't over-pay for any service. Don't bribe if it can be avoided. This has an impact on the society. If 9 out of 10 people in the scenario i mentioned here don't pay bribe, Mr Mallappa will have a 2nd thought before repeating this feat.

[akshay200x]

That's fucking outrageous man!! I,m glad you're over it. Try not to bribe if you know you are right. Think of your options.

In the face of adversity, i always think of the worst and best possible outcomes. If the worst is not too bad, i stay back and fight.

Over the years, a few things I have come to practise are -
Don't over-pay for any service. Don't bribe if it can be avoided. This has an impact on the society. If 9 out of 10 people in the scenario i mentioned here don't pay bribe, Mr Mallappa will have a 2nd thought before repeating this feat.

Good that you up up a fight! Ill spread this around.
btw *fcuking* from above post did not get sensored like it used to, few days back. What the f^<k is happening
And now when i said it above, it got filtered! *sigh*

[wanderingwheels]

Cheers man akshay!! Well, may be we have context dependant censoring in BZ. Or may be I get some privileges. Hehehe.

[natarajan.pitchiah]

Though Mr. Mallappa is such a disgrace to the cops out here. I have had some good experiences with cops in Bangalore so far!

We should make Mr. Mallappa regret this. I am going to put this up on my facebook wall once i return home "Shame on you Mr. Mallapa - Badge No: 3479, HAL Police Station" and i will link it to your blog. I just hope his face becomes popular and gets spat on at least once in his life. Ill do my bit, and lets hope these dirty rats rot in hell.

[wanderingwheels]

Ya Nats, do that. I'm not sure if he lied about the badge number though. If you check pic of the badge, that I have put on the blog, there's a different number on it, at the top left corner. I do not know if that's the actual badge number. Anyway, 3479 is the number he told me. Thanks for sharing.

I should tell you that I've had good experiences with traffic policemen, except for a middle aged guy who is usually stationed at Sarjapur signal.

[Anool]

you may like to put up a post about your encounter on the Bangalore Traffic Police page on FB :

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bangalore-Traffic-Police/147207215344994?ref=ts

[akshay200x]

Anool, traffic police wouldn do anythin in this case as the chap is from station duty.

[vasanthb]

Good on you Wanderingwheels, for standing up and keeping your wits about you.

Had a rough experience with a member of the press at Blore in 2009 while visiting, had just gone past the signal near the Chinnasamy stadium when I had to brake for a 2 wheeler and my bolero was hit from behind by a scooty which broke the front panel, I slowed to ensure that the guy was ok and was waved on by him, was then chased down and stopped by a gent on a bike waving a press card asking me to get down and pay damages. BTW mine is a TN registered vehicle. The gent who hit me stopped apologized for hitting the vehicle and moved on. The press guy would not let us go. He spoke only kannada and refused to acknowledge Tamil, English and Hindi all of which I am conversant in. I could make out he was being abusive, the traffic cop came and did not see any fault on our side, press guy wouldnt budge, pulled out a sheet with station nos, and called the station, cop came from station heard our story, tried convincing the guy, still wouldnt let us go, control room called, cop from control room came, didnt see any fault on our side, still wouldnt let us go. By now 3 off press guys friends waving press cards came and abused cops and myself for dont know what. Finally we called an uncle who called the commissioner who in turn sent a cop who arrived at the scene and waved us on with all four press guys still abusing the cops for not taking action. All in all an hour of unpleasantness for no valid reason. Felt frustrated that this happened and we were helpless to do anything about it. We knew somebody who could help us and so we got away but another place another time who knows what could have happened. Made me avoid coming to Blore for nearly 2 years. I realize it was a one off and that people generally are gracious and helpful, from my many bullet rides across south india.

Anyway it was refreshing to know of someone who decided to stand up and do something about the bullshit.

Vasanth.

[punerider]

I was riding my Yamaha, not a 'bike'.

Hmm...maybe thats the reason you were harassed.He was a bikonator who was sent back into time to hunt down bikers who use motorcycles :p

[hitanshu]

oh it happens nationwide. Chd/punjab cops are notorious for challaning NCR vehicles with sunfilms (even if compliant). There have been cases where they even ripped off the film off the windows.

Two years back I was in chd during the day for some work. A cop asked us to pull over. Tried to challan us. I produced our warranty/compliance certificate but he wouldn't budge, nor would he show me the specification, nor any law which would empower them to challan any vehicle passing through the city. He just wanted money (~1000) or the glee of ripping out my car's window film.

After about 3 min of trying to plead, I said okay - you do what you want - I will call 100 and tell them that you tried to misbehave with my wife. If you will be an ***hole and waste my time/money then I can put you in equal jeopardy. Come let us both spend a day at the police station - I am no less stubborn than you.

Within 10 sec, I was on my way

[wanderingwheels]

All in all an hour of unpleasantness for no valid reason. Vasanth.

All that in one hour?? Freaking marathon man!! I think your case is one off, because normally if a person hits you from behind, it is his mistake (unless you were doing something funny like, turning left with the right indicator ON or something).

Well, the update is that one of my friends forwarded it to Bangalore Mirror and they have asked if I mind going on record. I have replied in the affirmative but I do not know if it will work out bad eventually. I definitely do not want policemen from all stations stopping me at odd hours.

Thanks for the comments Vasanth.

Come July, I will have enough money to buy myself a BC1, hopefully and then all these should stop. Cycling solves a lot of problems indeed!!

[wanderingwheels]

After about 3 min of trying to plead, I said okay - you do what you want - I will call 100 and tell them that you tried to misbehave with my wife. If you will be an ***hole and waste my time/money then I can put you in equal jeopardy. Come let us both spend a day at the police station - I am no less stubborn than you.
Within 10 sec, I was on my way

Smart move I think people do not want to rub it the wrong way with policemen; so, they try to get out of the situation ASAP. A lot of policemen, if not all, take advantage of that. Can't say it is fair. Hell!! I have paid bribe (200 + 250) to get a new passport after losing mine. In that case, I could not afford wasting any time.

[matelang]

Few days back, there was a notification mail from the police commissioner, mumbai that as per law any policeman cannot stop a commuter unless he has broken the law. I don't know how feasible it'll be as the police can put a false charge.

[bubbu64]

I am sure BZ'ers are aware what happened in Mumbai recently
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 611964.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 630800.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 611895.cms
Point to note here is they picked the wrong guy.lol
what happens when one doesn't have a support system such as this kid had? Ordinary junta just end up paying and forgetallaboutit attitude.

[Bent_gate]

Risky move there, Hitman... I can think of a different ending to that story if that cop was a sarfira.

OP, nicely handled. But if there was no crowd, again risky to have stopped for anyone.

[wanderingwheels]

Risky move there, Hitman... I can think of a different ending to that story if that cop was a sarfira.

OP, nicely handled. But if there was no crowd, again risky to have stopped for anyone.

Bent sir, there was no crowd. Just empty street, a few people passing by, some shopkeepers checking out what's the noise all about. But, no one came closer or tried to help. Of course, the story would have ended differently if I was stopped at a dark spot in a uninhabited place. I had made up my mind to give it back to them after I had to bribe for the passport. I'm not proud of what I did. I believe bribing is equally demeaning as accepting a bribe.

arjun

[hitanshu]

Risky move there, Hitman... I can think of a different ending to that story if that cop was a sarfira.

Bent gate - it was a tall well built punjab police sardar - the kind who could thrash the living daylights out of most people in a min. If my wife was not with me, I would anyways have been driving with all windows down and RBI issued document ready to spring at a nano second's notice.

[akshay200x]

Below is the response I got from Bangalore Traffic Police.

We are bringing it to the notice of jt cp crime alok kumar.....there is no traffic police in night and these checking are not in line with our philosophy.....we don't check documents in day forget about night.....will take up this instance. With non traffic police bosses.....we don't approve of it

Good work!