Father-daughter duo catch cops accepting bribes, police deny it ever happened

Mansi Vakharia. Pic/Satej Shinde

While the Prime Minister continues to promise a crusade against corruption in the country, casual bribery still seems to be the order of the day, at least in Juhu police station. On Thursday, cops there allegedly asked Juhu residents Mansi Vakharia and her father Umesh for 'chai-paani' to expedite the process of getting a no objection certificate (NOC) they needed to get a new vehicle registration certificate (RC) book. After Mansi took up the matter on social media, senior cops reached out to her and said they would 'look into the matter'.

Mansi and Umesh went to the police station around 9.45 am on Thursday. Mansi needed an NOC from the cops to submit at the RTO to get a new RC book for her car. But instead of helping them out, the cops first led them to believe they needed a court affidavit to obtain the NOC. When the duo said there was no such rule, the constable who was talking to them asked for 'chai-paani' to speed up the process.

Caught being corrupt
"My father told them very politely that we had only come here to get our work done. But I lost my cool and shouted how could they ask for a bribe like this in broad daylight," said Mansi told mid-day. Taken aback by her outburst, the constable tried to turn around what he'd said, and then asked Mansi to get a copy of her license, since the RC book had her name.

"When I returned, my father was talking to a different cop, filling out some paperwork, and his back was turned towards me. When he walked towards me, he said that this official too was demanding a bribe to get things done. I was so angry, but my father helped me keep my cool. We finally left the police station without this so-called affidavit, and even received the NOC from cops without giving any 'chai-paani,'" she added.

Taking 'note' of the incident
While this incident was ongoing, Mansi took up the matter on Instagram and Twitter. She tagged @MumbaiPolice in her tweet, who then got in touch with her over the phone. They redirected her to DCP Paramjeet Singh, who after making a 'note' of the incident, passed the baton to ACP DP Bhargude.

"At this point I told the authorities that I was taking one step after another as directed by them, but they weren't really helping," said Mansi, "But I was told from the other end that there were certain procedures they had to follow. To be honest, I've heard the word 'procedure' more times in the last 24 hours than I have in my entire life." After the ACP requested images of Mansi's complaints on social media, he too provided a solution in the form of a nondescript, "I will look into the matter."

Later in the day, the higher authorities did end up taking action on Mansi's complaint. Sadly, the so-called 'procedure' wasn't really by the book when it came to them. "Two police officials, namely PI Tawde (male) and WPSI Patil (female), came to my house without informing me earlier," said Mansi, "They called me once they'd already reached my building. From the second they entered my home, they were the classic good cop-bad cop."

"While the lady tried to explain to me that all women need to stick together, the male police official tried to intimidate me by saying that they have CCTV footage of everything that goes on inside the police station. When I asked to see the footage, he said that it was not possible because of the procedures involved. They kept saying what I'd alleged was untrue. But they also reiterated that an affidavit was not required in case of a missing RC book," added Mansi. She later tweeted, "Given that Mumbai Police has a 100 'procedures' in place to file a complaint, how about implementing one procedure of informing a citizen before you turn up at their house?"

Proud and scared
For Umesh, this incident has been bittersweet, "I am proud of my daughter but also slightly scared after this incident. A police station is where citizens can go fearlessly and convey their problems. We are supposed to feel safe there, not intimidated."

"If it weren't for my daughter, I would have paid whatever bribe was required and got my work done. It's better than going to court and spending an entire day there with paperwork and lawyers. The entire mechanism at Juhu police station needs to be investigated," he said.

'It didn't happen'
When mid-day spoke to Sunil Ghosalkar, senior PI, Juhu police station, he said: "Nothing like this ever happened - we did not even ask them for an affidavit. Why would we? We don't ask anyone for an affidavit for their lost RC book. No one has ever complained to us before about such incidents." According to him, the two officials who visited the Vakharia residence on Thursday evening had informed Mansi prior to their visit, "This is what I was told by them. As of now, the ACP is investigating the matter."

Also Read: ACB arrests revenue official arrested for taking bribe in Visakhapatnam

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