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Old 16th July 2017, 21:49   #1
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Jalgaon toll plaza: Harassed by cop in plain clothes

I along with my parents were travelling in Rajasthan from Kolkata in our private vehicle registered in WB.

Today, we had a journey from Chittorgarh to Aurangabad (Maharashtra) to visit some relatives after finishing the Rajasthan tour. We stopped at the toll gate to pay the toll (Jalgaon toll plaza, exact coordinates of the locations can be found in the video footage). But the toll personnel informed us that toll is not levied for private cars anymore. As soon as we crossed the toll gate, someone in a civil dress (shirt & jeans) waved us to stop. Initially I slowed down, but apprehending a bad situation in an unknown place, my mother suggested not to stop and carry on driving.

Just after 2 minutes, the same guy stopped us - he was following our car on his bike and said that we tried to escape! He claimed to be part of the traffic police. Now when he checked all the papers and found all to be okay, he asked us to follow him back to the toll plaza; I asked him to prove his identity. How could one outstation person identify a cop in shirt and jeans!.

He harassed me and my parents like hell and demanded Rs. 3155 and threatened us to harm us if not paid. The video clearly shows the person's apparel (no one can identify him as police in this dress) and his bike had no number plate; even he himself was not wearing a helmet. We explained to him why we didn't stop, thinking an unknown person asking for a lift and considering my family's safety in an unknown place. Finally, after lots of nagging, he demanded Rs. 1000 without receipt and when we said we don't have the amount in hard cash, he finally took Rs. 500.

After the 30 mins of drama and with the request of my mother, he let us go. This is the worst case I have faced entering Maharashtra. Such bad treatment to an outstation vehicle owner with all clear papers. The cop in the video represents the most corrupt face and tarnishes the entire police community. He himself does not follow any traffic rules & can only threaten outstation persons and exploit their helplessness like this instead of helping them out. All the long-drive tour fun was spoilt by this corrupt police officer.


Last edited by GTO : 17th July 2017 at 11:40. Reason: typos
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Old 17th July 2017, 00:14   #2
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Unfortunate, but that's the reality of our Police community, be it traffic or the regular ones. They are corrupt to the core and need to be taught a lesson in whatever manner that's possible like - social media, print media, etc. They are one of the most corrupt departments in the Government and are the ones to be blamed for the hooliganism and lawlessness. You should not have stopped at the first place irrespective of him following your car. I am not sure of the car that you were driving but there was no way that he could have reached you on his bike. You should not have stopped at the first place as he was not in uniform. What if he was a thief? These days when we hear about crimes with people in uniform, genuine and fake, there was no occasion for you to stop at the instance of a person with civil dress. What was the logic/ rationale behind ₹ 3155?
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Old 17th July 2017, 01:02   #3
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You shouldn't have stopped. Some of my friends were driving through Rajasthan and stopped at an oasis. Some policeman came soon after and started harassing them and saying that they were peeing in the oasis and to pay up. My friends told them that they will follow them to the station and when the got in their car, they locked the doors and ran away from those guys as fast as they could. Those guys couldn't keep up on their bike and gave up after 5 minutes. Even if in uniform, there is no guarantee that they were real policemen and even if they were who knows what they would have done with my friends.
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Old 17th July 2017, 07:16   #4
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Re: Police not wearing uniform harassed family in outstaion car & demanded bribe in Jalgaon toll Pla

As there's no mention in your post or video, did the individual claiming to be a cop showed any identity proof of being a police officer?
If not chances are greater that the person you encountered was most likely an influenced local goon or someone related with the toll (staff) who decided to make a quick buck after noticing your vehicle having a number plate of a different State.
It's not uncommon in India to get pulled over for driving a car with a number plate of a different state than the one you are in. More than often there's barely a valid reason to it and they just try to make a quick buck.
From personal experience, I had been pulled over thrice in a single day at three different locations all within Mumbai for riding a KL registered bike which I had borrowed from a friend.

Last edited by Skyline_GT : 17th July 2017 at 07:20.
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Old 17th July 2017, 09:52   #5
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Re: Police not wearing uniform harassed family in outstaion car & demanded bribe in Jalgaon toll Pla

I have had a similar experience near around the same place.

I was on a Bangalore - Delhi trip in my HR-reg Corsa and a couple people (one in uniform, one in not) had a nakabandi just after the ghat after crossing Jalgaon.

The moment they saw HR on the no. plate, their eyes probably lit up; asked me for every possible documentation which I had. Then they said I had illegal CNG/LPG which I didn't. Then they said I don't have original RC so I'll have to pay some amount. Once I showed them the original RC, they said, "just give 100 and go". When I refused due to lack of justification, they just asked me to go with a look of disgust.

I think, conversing in Marathi was what allowed me to get past this without any incident.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Blooming Flower View Post
He claimed himself as a traffic police. Now when he checked all the papers and found all to be okay he asked us to follow him back to the toll plaza; I asked him to prove his identity.
The saddest part is, even if the guy did turn out to be a cop, there is absolutely no accountability on them to prove their identity. Nor an accountability to be in uniform before pulling off such stunts, of even the legality of such stunts.

And god forbid, you ask them for proof and hurt their pride and ego. That's when the entire Constitution of India backs them up.

A guy in plain clothes stopped me once at the AP - KA border near Hampi; before I handed over documents, I asked for identity. The hell he raised after that was unimaginable. Here were my offences:

1) not speaking in the regional language
2) not driving a locally registered car
3) non-KA/AP so "north Indian"
4) asked for identity

Of course, I was told to pay 5000 as fine too; I just about managed to get out of it by massaging his ego and proclaiming how "some people exploit the good name of the cops by faking identity".

When you're with family and/or you don't have "connections", there's very little leverage a common man has against these anti-social elements or even cops out to make a quick buck.

Not stopping can work in some cases but can backfire terribly in others. Why? Ego. Asking for identity is a bullet through a cop's ego.

Until the cops are held accountable to the common public, this police/gunda raj will go on.

Last edited by libranof1987 : 17th July 2017 at 09:55.
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Old 17th July 2017, 10:07   #6
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Re: Police not wearing uniform harassed family in outstaion car & demanded bribe in Jalgaon toll Pla

Here is my experience while crossing Khamgaon sometime in May 2014.

Cross-posting from another thread -

Quote:
Originally Posted by //M View Post
While crossing Khamgaon, we were stopped by a few policemen who demanded all the vehicle papers as they saw an outside state registered car. We showed them all papers, documents, fuel bills and toll tax bills which proved that we were mere tourists. However, they demanded Rs 1500 as a fine for supposedly not getting a permit to enter Maharashtra. I straight away refused to pay a single penny, as I knew it was just a stunt to get some money from inter-state travelers. While we were talking, one of the policeman started calling up somebody and explaining them the situation. He handed over the phone to me and the other guy on the phone asked us to pay the fine. I politely refused.

I demanded them to show me a written proof where it should be mentioned that inter-state travelers have to pay such a fee as a permit tax. As expected, they failed to do so and finally let us go. We also saw they had stopped a MP registered Chevrolet Enjoy and the driver of the Enjoy also refused to pay a single penny. But out of the many hundred cars that probably cross Khamgaon in a day, atleast a few of them would certainly be preys of these cops who want to get some easy money.
Link to the relevant post : Honda City i-DTEC: 17 days, 8 states, 6467 kms, 1 legendary roadtrip
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Old 17th July 2017, 11:18   #7
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Re: Police not wearing uniform harassed family in outstaion car & demanded bribe in Jalgaon toll Pla

Quote:
Originally Posted by jbpanda View Post
... I am not sure of the car that you were driving but there was no way that he could have reached you on his bike. You should not have stopped at the first place as he was not in uniform. What if he was a thief?
Quote:
Originally Posted by rdst_1 View Post
You shouldn't have stopped...
I didn't stop just after the toll plaza even after I slowed down a bit at first. But seeing unknown people in civil dress my Mom advised me to move on. He could never have followed and stopped me. I was driving a Manza QDJ. Those who have travelled on that very road know very well how high series of rumble strips (rather say series of big humps) are there on the road. One needs to be very careful while driving a low GC sedan on this road else he/she would definitely scrap the underbelly of the car. That was the sole reason he could stop me at a rumble strip where I was at literally zero speed. Previously, in road experience section I posted one incident in NCR of attempting to loot by usage of unknown chemicals. That came into my mind for the time being. It might be one off case like that!

I drove in Rajasthan last week through most of the major roads . Only once I faced police checking on the way from Jaisalmer to Mt. Abu. But the cops had one police van and they all were in uniform. They checked all the documents and let us go. Only thing one senior cop in their group asked me why the headlight is on in daytime. Before I intervened, one knowledgeable young officer told the senior cop 'Sir, it's safer to ride or drive in highway keeping the low beam on.'' They all said to carry on without any trouble. In this case they did their duty. I appreciate that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyline_GT View Post
..did the individual claiming to be a cop showed any identity proof of being a police officer?..

I had been pulled over thrice in a single day at three different locations all within Mumbai for riding a KL registered bike
Quote:
Originally Posted by //M View Post
Here is my experience while crossing Khamgaon sometime in May 2014.
As soon as we were taken back to the toll plaza he stopped at the 'police chowki' (as he described). We went in. My dad politely tried to make him understand the situation why we didn't stop mentioning his civil uniform. When I asked about the identity he was furious. Some other persons (all not in uniform although) started to back the self-claimed cop. Now the argument turned hot by both sides. My dad and I were not at all ready to buy into his bogus idea and in the tiff I forgot myself or ask my mom to click their pics. (But in HD mode the video shows the side face of the particular cop in bike. From the location coordinate if he was on duty officer he could easily be tracked down.) While he checked the documents stopping us at a distance he took all the original documents including my license with him. He threatened us while arguments were going on to send the documents with a 'See and Escape' case in Jalgaon court where we have to deposit a certain fee after two days to release the papers. He definitely knew any outstation public would refrain from acceding to this idea. Then the 'bribe thing' came into picture- 'money without challan'.

Yes, my relatives warned of this harassment scam to outstation vehicle by police in Mumbai. But now it seems to be in entire Maharashtra. I have driven in almost all the major states of India in length and breadth. But never faced this kind of disgusting cops in civil dress. Yes, I have to mention I also faced this three times yesterday. Just after climbing the Jalgaon ghat road there was another intervention. But all cops were in proper uniform and when the signaled us to stop I immediately pulled over and my dad came out to talk. They even asked to the boot and checked all the luggage individually. Then the officer explained he was surprised to see a WB registered private car after his 6 months posting here. He had a small conversation with us offered us tea made for them. Not all cops are same. They were doing their duty. And yes, they said we were stopped just due to the number plate (WB) while other MH registered cars were allowed to go without being stopped (following video shows the proof). But they were indeed very well behaved after getting to know what we do, where we are from. I am posting a video of the same here.



June 25th, I was in Hampi-Badami-Pattadakallu-Aihole road-trip with my mom and colleagues in another car. To & fro on the way, none stopped us for driving a WB registered car. Even whenever I used to go to Bangalore, sometimes the cops stopped me and checked all the documents, verified my stay in KA to be less than one year by pollution papers of different states or toll receipts and let me go. In Chennai also, cops stopped me several times and didn't ask for any documents. But after 8pm they start drive against 'drink & drive' and without much words they subject you to undergo an alcometer or brethalyzer test. This is really a good initiative .
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