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Old 29th November 2011, 16:55   #541
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re: Pune : Roads, traffic conditions, route queries and other assorted rants

Yesterday evening I was chugging along homeward on my bike near Paud Phata flyover, when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a yellow LTD sticker. Obviously overjoyed, I was wondering whether to honk/ flash/ do a jig. But the joy was shortlived as it was my own car! The Jazz was double parked just before Hotel Yatri heading towards Karve statue and the wife was rummaging through her bag. Now that isnt normal; I mean the double parking I had already gone a bit further so stopped and parked my bike in a designated parking area and walked back towards the Jazz with my helmet in hand.

Now there was a cop standing near the driver window and my wife was looking for her license. Apparently she was blocked by a bike while taking a u turn and by the time she completed the turn, the signal had turned red.
So I start chatting with the cop. Normal dialogue in normal font, thoughts in italics.

Me: What happened? (What happened?!)
Cop: Signal todla aahe (Who is this guy?)
Me: Oh ok, the uturn I guess? (Why do they have such short times on this signal?)
Cop: to me - hmm (these bystanders want to get involved in all matters)
to my wife - madam "laaysan" aahe ka?
Me: yes, please wait. she is looking. take my "laaysan" as guarantee if you think she will run away! (whats the great hurry? is she wanted to scoot she would not have pulled over)
Cop: hmm (why is this guy interpreting when I am speaking in the same language?)
Me: Got it! and then went across to the other cop on a bike with the "laaysan"
Cop: that will be 100 bucks (why is this guy playing the knight in shining armour?)
Me: 100 bucks is a bit less, it should be increased
Cop: hmm, tumhi kon? (is this guy supporting that woman or talking against her?)
Me: maajhi gaadi aahe
Cop: looking at the helmet: naahi ti neeli gaadi
Me: ho, maajhi aahe. (aah, now I get it!) maajhi baayko aahe ti
Cop: mhanun fine jaasta paahije?!
Me: (this discussion is taking a nasty turn!)

no no, I mean generally 100 bucks is affordable. out of smilies.

Last edited by selfdrive : 29th November 2011 at 17:24.
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Old 29th November 2011, 17:06   #542
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re: Pune : Roads, traffic conditions, route queries and other assorted rants

My lysan was confiscated on Saturday when I was tootling around on my scooter too, in Mayur colony. The U-Turn under the flyover at Paud Road is a tricky bugger, with lots of people jumping the signal.
I had to go to the chowky and pay up.
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Old 29th November 2011, 20:02   #543
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Quote:
Originally Posted by selfdrive
no no, I mean generally 100 bucks is affordable. out of smilies.
That was some experience - for them cops

Did you get the paavti ??

Last year a scam was unveiled in the TOI - Pune Mirror, about how some traffic cops issue fake receipts towards the fines duly paid by unsuspected citizens of Pune.
It seems that these cops have entire book of fake paavtis printed; while the cash is easily pocketed..
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Old 30th November 2011, 10:45   #544
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Monaro: What guarantee is there that even if the paavti is genuine, the fine actually ends up to the Government? It could easily just stay between the cops.

If they are really serious on collecting fines, then they got to give paavti's and ask the errant to go and pay it in the court/post office/any government organization.
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Old 30th November 2011, 20:27   #545
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re: Pune : Roads, traffic conditions, route queries and other assorted rants

Oh these guys catch at random. Sometimes I have seen them helping vehicles to go ahead when they have broken a signal. Never figured out that one.
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Old 30th November 2011, 23:47   #546
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re: Pune : Roads, traffic conditions, route queries and other assorted rants

Ironically had an opposite experience. On the way back from office was dropping a colleague at Aundh (Convergys junction). To go back to Sanghvi, I decided to take a u-turn, but due to the constant traffic, was stuck up. This cop walks up to me, asks me in marathi - where do I want to go. I feebly answer, half-expecting him to ask for my license. Instead he stops the incoming traffic, allows me to take a u-turn and walks away.

Pleasant experience.
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Old 1st December 2011, 18:12   #547
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re: Pune : Roads, traffic conditions, route queries and other assorted rants

Quote:
Originally Posted by Monaro CV8 View Post
Did you get the paavti ??
It seems that these cops have entire book of fake paavtis printed; while the cash is easily pocketed..
Quote:
Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar View Post
If they are really serious on collecting fines, then they got to give paavti's and ask the errant to go and pay it in the court/post office/any government organization.
Quite possible guys. Though there is no way that I can find that out. I only can ensure that I get a receipt. There were some who were negotiating the "fine amount". There were a few others who were calling up someone else on their mobiles and wanted the cop to talk to them. The cop refused to take the mobile and the drama continued. For a 100 bucks? And after you flout a rule? Seriously that was pathetic.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sajo View Post
My lysan was confiscated on Saturday when I was tootling around on my scooter too, in Mayur colony. The U-Turn under the flyover at Paud Road is a tricky bugger, with lots of people jumping the signal.
I had to go to the chowky and pay up.
At least that was a lady cop

Quote:
Originally Posted by dot View Post
Oh these guys catch at random. Sometimes I have seen them helping vehicles to go ahead when they have broken a signal. Never figured out that one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ninjatalli View Post
Instead he stops the incoming traffic, allows me to take a u-turn and walks away.
Pleasant experience.
Yeah dot and ninja, sometimes if you block more traffic, they would prefer to let you go than let you be a bottleneck for the rest of the vehicles.
If I were drafting the fine structure, it would be a % of the vehicle OTR. I cannot seem to let go of that rant!
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Old 2nd December 2011, 10:06   #548
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re: Pune : Roads, traffic conditions, route queries and other assorted rants

It was the day of strike and one of my favorite days for travel due to negligible traffic on all roads. So I reached office early morning and left early to be available for work at home on account of cousins wedding.

I was driving at around 40-50 kmph and approaching Pashan circle. I see a Splendour stationary on the far left as I was approaching the circle. I make a pass and overtake to realize that the splendour started moving. I steered in the opposite direction to avoid contact. But the bike had darted diagonally across and hit his handle on my rear left door. I realized that the man on the bike hadn't fallen down. So I rolled down the window and asked him if he was ok. He shows me a sticker on his bike that reads "Police" with a lathi tied to the rear seat. I realized I was in trouble although the man was dressed in casuals. I pulled over and the guy rode his bike and parked it ahead of my car.

I politely asked him if he was ok and suddenly he held his elbow and yelled in pain. I realized he was acting smart. At 3 feet distance away he was stinking of booze. I was a little scared since he was almost 2 times my size and appeared to be ready to hit me. I said I had to leave for home since my cousin's getting married and everyone's waiting for lunch. The conversation starts:

Cop: You attempted to kill me on a day of bandh while I am on official duty. Flashed his police badge. (It was genuine).
Me: You can't be serious.
Cop: Do you have any sense, you were driving at 100kmph and made an attempt to kill me while I was stopping you from creating ruckus on account of the bandh.
Me: No point in talking to you, what would you like to do.
Cop: I am going to call the wireless and radio that you attempted to kill me by running me down.
Me: Ok go ahead. H
Cop: Held my collar and asked me to pay him 1000 bucks to fix his elbow.
Me: Let me go, I have to attend a function in the family.
Cop: There's no way I am going to leave you.
Me: (I have never ever paid a bribe in my life), What would be your medication charges?
Cop: Rs. 1000/-

I went to the ATM, withdrew 1000 bucks and handed it over to him.

Cop: Now smiling and the pain killer having worked, left his elbow, mounted on his bike and said thank you.
Me: Got into the car, engaged 1st gear and said, I hope this money serves your and your kids future.
Cop: Wait wait.
Me: Flashed a good bye and drove off.

If I had time, I would have gone to the police station and made sure I get a medical test done on him. But, I knew he would have friends at the police station and I wouldn't stand a chance to get away. They might slap another charge on me and I had no time during a family celebration to attend to all this nonsense.

I feel guilty of having to shell off what I would call a version of bribe. I really wish I meet the said cop once again sometime in my life to teach him a lesson.
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Old 2nd December 2011, 10:12   #549
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re: Pune : Roads, traffic conditions, route queries and other assorted rants

Quote:
Originally Posted by moralfibre View Post

Cop: You attempted to kill me on a day of bandh while I am on official duty. Flashed his police badge. (It was genuine).
Me: You can't be serious.
Cop: Do you have any sense, you were driving at 100kmph and made an attempt to kill me while I was stopping you from creating ruckus on account of the bandh.
Me: No point in talking to you, what would you like to do.
Cop: I am going to call the wireless and radio that you attempted to kill me by running me down.
Me: Ok go ahead. H
Cop: Held my collar and asked me to pay him 1000 bucks to fix his elbow.
Me: Let me go, I have to attend a function in the family.
Cop: There's no way I am going to leave you.
Me: (I have never ever paid a bribe in my life), What would be your medication charges?
Cop: Rs. 1000/-

I went to the ATM, withdrew 1000 bucks and handed it over to him.

Cop: Now smiling and the pain killer having worked, left his elbow, mounted on his bike and said thank you.
Me: Got into the car, engaged 1st gear and said, I hope this money serves your and your kids future.
Cop: Wait wait.
Me: Flashed a good bye and drove off.

If I had time, I would have gone to the police station and made sure I get a medical test done on him. But, I knew he would have friends at the police station and I wouldn't stand a chance to get away. They might slap another charge on me and I had no time during a family celebration to attend to all this nonsense.

I feel guilty of having to shell off what I would call a version of bribe. I really wish I meet the said cop once again sometime in my life to teach him a lesson.
Wow, that was a rather sad experience. Can a cop hold a citizen's collar ? That too traffic waala ? Is it not too much ? I am glad that common sense prevailed and you got rid of him.
Moralfibre you are pune localite right ? What would be the plight on non-localites like me
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Old 2nd December 2011, 10:21   #550
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Originally Posted by F150 View Post
Wow, that was a rather sad experience. Can a cop hold a citizen's collar ? That too traffic waala ? Is it not too much ? I am glad that common sense prevailed and you got rid of him.
Couldn't figure out if he was a traffic cop or not but he sure did know how to mug people. I didn't want to create a scene and wanted to get home as soon as possible. I did make a phone call and asked if someone could come to the police station but I couldn't expect much as everyone was in a happy mood and a police station visit might have made things a little complicated.

Quote:
Moralfibre you are pune localite right ? What would be the plight on non-localites like me
I guess a localite is as susceptible as a non-localite. I have lived for 19 years in Bombay and have been residing in Pune for the last 10 years if that helps.
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Old 2nd December 2011, 10:27   #551
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Quote:
Originally Posted by moralfibre View Post
I feel guilty of having to shell off what I would call a version of bribe. I really wish I meet the said cop once again sometime in my life to teach him a lesson.
Feel very sad for you, more so what you did to tackle the situation does not suit your handle "moralfibre". The cop was no doubt a shrewd wolf in a guise of a sheep waiting to pounce on his "shikaar" & since you were in a hurry to reach home, made the matter only worse. How these so called law enforcers take undue advantage of hapless commuters like us.

You could have still taught him a lesson, had you noted down his bike number & his name from his I-card. If you have done that then immediately write a letter to the editors of leading dailies in Pune (TOI, Indian Express, Sakal, Maharashtra Times etc) giving the cops name & bike number & explaining the whole story in a similar fashion as you did it here. Let the guy be ashamed in front of his seniors & other staff members.
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Old 2nd December 2011, 11:16   #552
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And while I put across my plight, here's a similar incident:

Link.
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Old 2nd December 2011, 12:05   #553
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+1 to what @AutoIndian has said.

Quote:
Originally Posted by moralfibre View Post
And while I put across my plight, here's a similar incident:

Link.
Hard luck boss, sitting here at office, I feel agitated - wonder how you kept yourself calm during the situation.

Any chance of putting down the cop name (I believe you saw the badge), or bike registration number or anything else that might identify him? Asking because I generally put across such cases to all my friends, to take care it doesn't happen to them. You never know when the same guy might get to do a similar act (it seems it was pre-determined and might get repeated).

Last edited by ninjatalli : 2nd December 2011 at 12:06.
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Old 2nd December 2011, 12:25   #554
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@moralfibre,
after reading the incident, i know, you may have reacted otherwise if you was not in hurry.

Last edited by ASHISHPALLOD : 2nd December 2011 at 12:40.
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Old 2nd December 2011, 14:13   #555
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Kiran, tough luck man!
I can understand the plight. On moral grounds you didnt want to pay a bribe, but at the same time, you didnt want any complications during a festive season in the house. Its just one of those things, that you cant help but give in and feel cheated.
This is broad daylight robbery.

Well, such is life, I suppose.

@F150: Localite or non localite has nothing to do when it comes to the "supposed" law enforcement. I have been a Puneite for a good part of 3 decades. If I was in Kiran's shoes, I would have done the same.

Last edited by Swanand Inamdar : 2nd December 2011 at 14:14.
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