Two Bengaluru cops suspended after bribery charge by grieving father
In his now-deleted post, Sivakumar said he had to pay bribes to nearly everyone simply to complete the required formalities and obtain the necessary documents
Bengaluru's Whitefield Police, acting on a now-deleted LinkedIn post by a retired Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) officer alleging corruption, took swift action and suspended two officials. The post, which went viral and sparked widespread outrage, detailed how he was allegedly forced to pay bribes at every stage while dealing with the death of his only daughter.
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“In connection with the incident mentioned in Sivakumar’s tweet, one PSI and one Police Constable of Bellandur Police Station have been immediately suspended. The Police Department will not tolerate any such indecent or inappropriate behaviour under any circumstances,” the police said in a statement.
A grieving father’s anguish
Sivakumar, former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of BPCL, shared an emotional post on LinkedIn describing the corruption and indifference he encountered while completing formalities following the death of his 34-year-old daughter, Akshaya.
Akshaya, who had worked for 11 years, including eight years with Goldman Sachs, passed away at home due to a brain haemorrhage on September 18. She had a BTech degree in Computer Science and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad.
In his post, Sivakumar alleged that he had to pay bribes to nearly everyone involved, from ambulance operators and police officials to staff at the crematorium and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) office, just to complete the required formalities and obtain documents.
'Bribes at every step'
“Recently, my only child passed away at age 34. The amount of open bribes being asked by the ambulance, police for FIR and post-mortem report, crematorium for giving receipts, and the BBMP office for the death certificate,” Sivakumar wrote, show screenshots of his post shared widely.
Sivakumar recounted how, even at the police station, he was compelled to pay cash. “Since the police had to give a copy of the FIR and post-mortem report, we met after four days, and they openly demanded cash, which I paid in the open police station,” he further said.
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“With no empathy for a father who lost his only child. Very sad state. I had money, I paid. What will the poor do?” he added.
Sivakumar alleged that the ambulance driver demanded Rs 3,000 to transport his daughter’s body from a hospital in Kasavanahalli to St John’s Hospital, Koramangala.
Police apathy
He also questioned the lack of compassion shown by police personnel, writing, “Do police officials have a family or any feeling when they demand money or speak rudely to a person who is already in trauma and emotional turmoil?”
The ordeal, he said, did not end there. The family even struggled to secure the death certificate from the BBMP. Sivakumar claimed he visited the office for five consecutive days, only to be told that no one was available because of an ongoing “caste survey”.
The certificate was finally issued only after he approached a senior BBMP official — but not before he was charged more than the official fee.
Concluding his post, Sivakumar made a heartfelt appeal, “Can Narayana Murthy, Azim Premji, and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, bigwigs with billions, save this city?”
BJP blames Congress govt
BJP Karnataka vice-president Malavika Avinash expressed sympathy for Sivakumar, saying, “At the outset, let me express my deepest condolences to Mr K Sivakumar. He’s not only had to suffer the personal grief of losing a young daughter, but he’s also had to endure government apathy.”
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She blamed the Congress government in Karnataka for what she described as a “defunct system” and demanded that Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar explain why a grieving father was subjected to such an ordeal and why his LinkedIn post was later deleted.
She further added, “The Urban Development Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, Mr D K Shivakumar, must explain what happened. Why this apathy? Why is a citizen of Bengaluru forced to suffer in this way? And worse, his post has been deleted — who ordered or pressured him to remove it? Please explain.”