Description

It was on 21st October 2011 which was few days before Diwali. The traffic police were out in full force. There were over a dozen of them. They stopped us. I was in my Toyota in the passenger seat and my driver Varun was driving. The cop came and said we were speeding and asked for Varun’s license and car papers. I told him we did not seem like we were speeding. He said the interceptor caught us while we were speeding 1 and half kms away. I asked him if he could give me the evidence. He got rude and said “You don’t believe us. We are not sitting here to prove anything to you”. He walked away. Varun went with him and I saw them talking. Varun came back to the car and told me that he was saying we have to pay 1500. I then got down and went to the cop and told him that the fine for speeding is Rs. 400/-. Varun also said the same to the cop. The cop then snubbed me and said “You think you know everything”. The conversation was in Hindi. I then told him that I do not wish to argue with him and to give me a challan and that I would pay in the court. He then changed tact and said to me “why you wasting your time, forget 1500 pay 500 and move on”. I told him I will pay whatever while in court. He realized I was headstrong and finally told me to pay Rs.400 and I asked for the challan as seen in photo here. Sometime during the conversation I tried to record a video but they gheraoed me and demanded I stop it. I then went to my car and clicked photos from the car. The cop after giving a challan to my driver came to the car and told me that I should not argue with cops. I just told him I know my rights and also my duties to check people when they create situations for bribes and said good bye. It seems all the cops were out to make a quick buck for Diwali as they were out there as one big gang catching people right, left and centre and demanding moneys by slapping whatever charge they felt like. The cop (Havaldar) name as shown in challan reads something like Balram Singh. The Sub Inspector) on duty is Ram Kishan from Z.O. 1675/B. This was on the way from Gurgaon to Delhi on MG road around 2 kms from the Gurgaon border. The cops were trying to create a situation where they demand more so that I paid them a bribe for less than what they demanded as the official charge. Since I did not relent they got rude and tried to bully me. We need to check these people and stop paying bribes and always insist on an official challan (bill). – Jeroninio Almeida