[stuntfreak]

Dear TeamBhp Members,

This is not a complaint story, but indeed a warning to all of you to take further precautions, so that what happened to me, should not happen to you.

I Request you to read thoroughly and proceed with my recommended guidelines.

I am a Car Enthusiast. I build Race cars, Was into Stunting, Racing (in safe environments with necessary permissions) long ago. After I started working I have not been Racing and nearly stopped riding super bikes. Cars being safer, I own an Audi TT (Indian Billed, all papers clear. Car is on my name with Insurance and PUC up to date)

Day before yesterday, (21 Aug 2015) evening. My wife and me were returning home from work. Stressed tired, and extremely hungry. I waited at the Traffic Signal Behind the Stop line since it was red. I saw a traffic police lady constable walking towards my car. With a lot of attitude, she knocked on my wind shield and asked for my license. As soon as I removed it from my wallet (unfortunately filled with money at the point of time; since I had to fill fuel, I was carrying cash.) She Snatched the License.

Recommended Point no 1: Only an Inspector has the right to Touch your license. Constables have only the authority to view them. So if a constable takes your license, pls do not take it lightly.

Recommended Point no 2: Never carry cash and your license together. Ad if you do, do not open your purse / wallet in front of the Police (I know its a 'duh' thing, but at that time, i did not realize it myself.

Back to the story: She snatched my license, and said, I broke the previous signal, and i have to pay fine. Rs. 1000.

Knowing that breaking the signal fine is Rs. 100, I said ' Ek toh fine 1000 nahi hai, aur upar se maine toda hi nahi'

Recommended Point no 3: No matter how right you are, these cops dont like being insulted. Please accept arrogant Indian behaviour and be polite.

She Asked me to pull over in the BRT Lane as I would have obstructed traffic once the signal turns Green.

Recommended point no 4: Never Ever Pull into the BRT Lane even if the cop asks you to. You will know why further.

Before I finished parking my car into the BRT Lane, she had dialed to the constable from the previous Signal, where I crossed the line while it was GREEN with other vehicles.

The Lady constable from the previous junction came without a helmet, from the wrong side, and parked her scooter in front of my car so that I would not be able to move it.

She started telling the first constable lady: This rash driving person broke the Signal and crossed it while it was red!

I got fed up. Generally all my cars have Dash Cams, but in this car i was very very very lazy to install one. I so wish I had it.

Recommended Point no 5: Please buy a Dash cam (Dual, front and rear) and install it in your car NOW.

Having denied broken the previous signal, the Constable lady called the P.I.
The P.I. came in the Police Van along with other Traffic Police. On his arrival, the first constable lady said: This person Broke the signal, Drove at 200+ kmph, went in the BRT Lane, and started messing around, ad these two ladies came and stopped me by blocking the car with their scooter!.

Recommended Point no 6: No matter how right you are, and you happen to be in this situation, say, I'm sorry, pay off the amount they are asking nicely, and go away.

When I started arguing over this, the P.I. arrogantly asked me, " Tumhi Gadi ghenar station la, ki tow truck bolvu" (Will you drive to the police station or should I call the Tow Truck).

My car has just two small child seats on the rear, where my wife had to sit in an un confortable manner to allow space for the police officer's associate. In the car, on the way to the station, the person told me, "saab, hume pata hai aap ne kuch nahi kiya, lekin agar hum aavaz uthayenge, toa hume suspend kar denge", (Sir, I know you are innocent, but if I raise my voice, I will get suspended). On reaching the station, the P.I. had started making the letter.

He filed a case under section 279 for Rash Driving and with no regards what so ever, very very arrogantly, I was sent to the nearby police station for further procedure without the decency of even offering drinking water.

Further when we reached the Police station, we had to wait for 1 hour for the respective Inspector to arrive.

When the Inspector arrived, I tried explaining my story to him, very very politely.

Recommended Point no 7: Please do not tell the truth in this situation. Unfortunately, it is extremely painful to tell all of you'll, that saying the truth will be dangerous, no matter how right it is.

Immediately The instector threatened me in the following words:

All junctions have CCTV Camera.
(I tried to reply, Please check.... I was interrupted).

Further he said, You will now be arrested, Prosecuted, your vehicle will be ceased, your wife will be sent home by our person, and you will have to wait in jail till monday morning when the court opens.

I got Extremely scared at this point of time. All the necessary documents were being made in this time. (Facial Description, Overall Body description Personal Detail collection). They prepared my Detailed report which said I was driving extremely rash and negligent .... blah blah.. When I asked him what if I don't want to sign, he said I have two options.

Option 1: Pay Rs. 5,000, and he will release me on bail and I could go home.

Option 2: I would have to spend two nights in Jail after which they would take me to the court, where I had to call my lawyer.

My friend had reached there by then, (whom I called on the way). I paid Rs. 5,000 , and did not receive any sort of acknowledgement for the same.

I was made to sign those forms. The Entire case was fabricated. And no one is willing to help me.

I think now, it's my fault. I was lazy, I did not put the Dash cam in my car. I did not agree to pay the initial bribe.

Now I have to go to the court tomorrow and admit I broke the law.

It's uber cab for me for local travel. As for my passion, I will be buying a truck with my friend, put our two cars in the truck, take them to the track one a month, and be satisfied driving a nice car..

Take care guys.

PS: I would not like to disclose any names here for my own safety. After all this, my desire to fight against the wrong, has died.

[Manoj2268]

Couple of years ago, My Karizma was seized by the cops when it was parked outside my house in the dead of the night. They had the gall to tell me that the bike was seized U/s section 66 DElhi Police act.

When I went to get it released, I was harassed to no end. I was told that the bike will be challaned even though I showed them the pics I had taken the day before which Clearly showed my bike parked outside the gate. Then the cretins told me to get an order from the magistrate from the Rohini courts after submitting an application to the ACP first, in hindi.

I had to reluctantly make some calls which made the cops realize that they were not to take me lightly and released the bike without fuss(but not without damage). I then knew that there is no one more vengeful then a cop who's ego has taken a bad hit. I come home around 4am everyday and my bike is stopped and checked everytime those cops are stationed at the picket nearby. I then found out that Delhi cops abuse this section 66 very rampantly. Search ZIPNET website. Even though the Higher ups are educated and willing to listen, the constables and people at the Station, Ugh!!!

[Cyborg]

Stuntfreak,

I feel really bad for you on reading about this incident.

However, It seems strange these cops would go to such lengths to make a buck, especially against someone who seems to have a lot of money/maybe contacts. Before handing over your license, did you not ask why your license was being demanded?

I feel you should not have signed any forms or anything at all until you could get a lawyer present at the police station. Since you could call a friend, you should have asked him to call/get a lawyer.

Maybe you have some contacts - higher police officials/lawyers/newspaper people who you could go to with the correct side of the incident and get these people into hot water. Since all junctions have CCTV camera's your story will get verified easily. If you allow them to get away with this rubbish, it will encourage them to do so again and perhaps against somebody who may not be able to retaliate the next time.

This is my opinion mate, you went through the scary ordeal. Please think things over very carefully before your court appearance.

All the best and hope the truth wins.

[john doe]

I have on occasion ( like everybody else driving/riding in India) been stopped by cops in Pune/ Mumbai. This incident as narrated by you is so far out of character for police in our city/state that I dont know what to make of it.

In my experience , keep cool, talk politely , be firm if you disagree with the cops and really, nothing will happen.

Of course, know the law too. If I am not mistaken, all traffic cops can confiscate your license and issue a receipt for the same. To pay the fine, you will have to go the Police Station.

You did not mention what car you were in, was it a MH car, where in Pune this happened?

[GrammarNazi]

You didn't do anything wrong. Some jealous people looted you & will get away with it.

Think of it like life's speeding ticket & forget it. Crap happens, dogs bite off sometimes.

Or maybe consider it as the cost that a decent person has to bear to protect his reputation.

But please forget it & try to keep living life to the fullest.

[harry10]

So sorry to hear what happened to you. What I have learned and implemented all these years dealing with cops is to pay the bribe. Ya, ethically and morally it's a wrong thing to do. But we don't live in a foreign country where we can complaint or sue the govt. They have the power, they abuse it and we bear it. That's the hard naked truth and I believe all of us live with it everyday.

Next time pay the 100,200 or whatever nominal amount there is and close it there and then. No point stressing yourself and your family all the way cos in the end you will pay and that too more. I also learned it the hard way.

Also, you are right. Their egos are on such a high peak it's better to agree that you broke the law even when you didn't. Cost of living in our country.

[drsingh]

Originally Posted by stuntfreak

Dear TeamBhp Members,

This is not a complaint story



Having denied broken the previous signal, the Constable lady called the P.I.
The P.I. came in the Police Van along with other Traffic Police. On his arrival, the first
Take care guys.

PS: I would not like to disclose any names here for my own safety. After all this, my desire to fight against the wrong, has died.

Unfortunately there are no checks and balances in the system. And your Audi just makes you a lucrative target for extortion.

If your time and peace of mind is more valuable than the bribe being asked, pay up and vent on a forum like this.

Unfortunately your Audi also makes sympathy from passerby and fellow citizens less forthcoming. And these people take advantage of exactly that. Lack of citizen activism.

I hope a citizen group in your city can take up this matter.

I would atleast write to the Human Rights Commission if I was I your place.

But first I'd recommend you to consult a prudent lawyer and ask him the best way to approach the court . If you neglect this and prolong matters without a proper response , the court may come to the conclusion that you have bribed the system to make this serious charge go away.

[Sheel]

Twice, this has happened twice.

First time, the traffic constable waived me to come over & then stopped saying you broke the signal. Luckily, in my passenger seat, I had a big fleet operator who took the constable and inspector by horns and they backed off.

Second time [partially my mistake] I was trying to cross when the signal had just turned to amber from green and as soon as I crossed the zebra [am dead sure] it was manually converted to red [seeing an outstation car] and was stopped. Must say, cops were polite & I got away with Rs. 350 challan + Rs. 50 as fees for someone who would deposit papers in bank.

Dash cams are important, yes. Do not look at the cops and take them head-on when you know you can get away. Else, treat them like God.

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by stuntfreak

Recommended Point no 3: No matter how right you are, these cops dont like being insulted. Please accept arrogant Indian behaviour and be polite.

She Asked me to pull over in the BRT Lane as I would have obstructed traffic once the signal turns Green.

Recommended point no 4: Never Ever Pull into the BRT Lane even if the cop asks you to. You will know why further.

Before I finished parking my car into the BRT Lane, she had dialed to the constable from the previous Signal, where I crossed the line while it was GREEN with other vehicles.

Hey stuntfreak, very sorry to hear about your ordeal. For the benefit of us bhpians in Pune, could you please share the location where this happened? It would be helpful for most of us to be cautious at this junction.

[bhardwhu]

Originally Posted by stuntfreak

Dear TeamBhp Members,

This is not a complaint story, but indeed a warning to all of you to take further precautions, so that what happened to me, should not happen to you.

It is indeed painful to go through this ordeal. i suggest that you take out time and meet with the IPS officer, incharge of the zone that this place falls in. I have had interactions with bureaucracy at that level and generally speaking, I have been able to get these subordinate officials to apologize or pay up as the case may be. You might have to meet in person and that will consume some of your time but once these constable and PI would be pulled up, the effort should be worth it.

[gautamkhadse]

For incidents like these , I wish we had a whatsapp group , where a person in distress could post a message in the group and call out for help .

-Dash cams in todays times are a must . It helps in times of accidents as well .

-Good point about not carrying cash . I never carry cash , I always rely on my cards . No matter what .

-I could go on , but am gonna tell you something , let this be a learning . Lets try and beat the system at its dirty games . Why give up the most fav thing in the world , driving and resprt to cabs .

You're just letting the system win , brother.

[srishiva]

I had a dash cam and removed it thinking its just a novelty :(

Its very sad that you had to go through this. Looks like they had decided to screw someone on the day and you were the victim. The problem is that in our system, things can actually get worse as you move through it when it should be the contrary. It becomes a challenge to them and they screw you more and more.

Get over with this and move on.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by srishiva

The problem is that in our system, things can actually get worse as you move through it when it should be the contrary. It becomes a challenge to them and they screw you more and more.

Get over with this and move on.

Very well said, having been in a similar situation like this, I can confidently say that one has to accept certain things (& compromise sometimes) and get yourself out of the mess. The damage once done, cannot be completely corrected/reversed even if you've not done anything wrong really in the first place.
It takes a toll with follow ups, court case, lawyers, police and the like. And luck too plays a major factor even if you can find some higher officials who are ready to listen to you and help out to the best of their abilities.

[ani_meher]

This is a scary ordeal. I must say this is the extreme I have ever read a traffic cop can go in MH. I hope there is no 'other side' that is not presented, though.

[hybridpetrol]

Sorry to hear your state of affairs buddy. We sincerely hope you get out of this situation soon.

Originally Posted by stuntfreak

I think now, it's my fault. I was lazy, I did not put the Dash cam in my car. I did not agree to pay the initial bribe.

I do not think having dash cam would have been of any help here. Since as you said the entire case, from breaking the first signal to driving at 200 kmph and parking in BRT lane was fabricated, because you questioned the initial bribe, if they know you had the dash cam with recordings of a group of traffic constables pulling you over for nothing and making you violate laws, wouldn't they be able to put you under more severe trouble?

A few years back, in Bangalore, I was stopped by a constable in my bike. He said, I had to pay fine, because, I was riding without helmet. I was puzzled, as I was wearing helmet. Then he told me, I was riding helmet on a particular day, which was about one year before that date near a particular signal, and showed me a digital device partially, as if it was proof for that. (Showed me careful enough, so I cannot read anything from it).
The point is, I have never been to that place in my life till now, and I have never ridden without helmet, as I usually take my bike only to office trips and the like, and for everything else, I just walk. And nobody rides my bike as well.
So, what did I do? Paid the Rs.200 bribe and moved on. Shameful, but this how I managed the situation, and moved on. Probably, if I had questioned him to show me the device properly, where he has the offence details, I might have ended up in more trouble like you.
In India, it is unimaginable the heights people go, if they do not get their "rightful" bribe.