Bengaluru cops ‘fine’ couple for ‘walking on the streets at night,’ suspended

Two policemen have been suspended in Bengaluru for allegedly extorting money from a couple on the pretext of a fine for “breaking the law.” The couple’s crime? They were out for a walk near their home after 11 pm, which the two cops told them “wasn’t allowed.”

The incident that happened on Thursday night came to light when one of the victims, Karthik Patri, took to twitter on Friday to narrate his ordeal. Patri and his wife were walking home from a birthday party when the two cops allegedly stopped them and forced them to pay a fine of Rs 1,000 through PayTM.

I would like to share a traumatic incident my wife and I encountered the night before. It was around 12:30 midnight. My wife and I were walking back home after attending a friend’s cake-cutting ceremony (We live in a society behind Manyata Tech park). (1/15)

— Karthik Patri (@Karthik_Patri) December 9, 2022

Patri also requested help from the Bengaluru City Commissioner of Police in a tweet. Police immediately swung into action and launched a probe, resulting in the suspension of a constable and a head constable at Sampigehalli police station.

The couple’s ordeal

Patri’s narrated his ordeal in a series of tweets. “I would like to share a traumatic incident my wife and I encountered the night before. It was around 12.30 midnight. My wife and I were walking back home after attending a friend’s cake-cutting ceremony (We live in a society behind Manyata Tech park).

“We were a few metres away from our entrance gate when a pink Hoysala patrol van stopped by us. Two men in police uniforms asked us to show our ID cards. We were taken aback. Why should an adult couple walking on the street on a normal day be asked to show their ID cards?

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“Anyway, we had nothing on us except our phones and a box of cake. Luckily, we had photos of our Aadhar cards. We promptly showed them to them. To our surprise, they took our phones away and started quizzing us about our relationship, place of work, parental details, etc.

“Though a bit shaken, we answered their questions politely. At this point, one of them took out what looked like a challan book and started noting down our names and Aadhaar numbers. Sensing trouble, we asked why we were being issued a challan.

“‘You are not allowed to roam on the road after 11 pm,’ one of them retorted. Struck by the absurdity of the reason, we persisted: ‘Is there such a rule? We are unaware about it.’ ‘Literate people like you should know about such rules.’ he shot back.”

Rs 3,000 ‘penalty’ for a walk

Patri went on to tweet that though they were not convinced about any such rule, they backed down because it was late in the night and their phones had been confiscated. They apologised for not knowing the “rule” and promised to not venture out at night again. But the policemen refused to let them go and demanded Rs 3,000 as penalty, he alleged in a tweet.

He claimed they “begged” the cops to let them go, but they became harsher and threatened to arrest Patri and his wife. They allegedly showed the couple pictures of convicts and threatened them of dire consequences. When the cops realized that his wife was in tears and that they had pushed her too far, they changed tack “fearing legal consequences,” according to Patri.

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“They said only I would be penalized. The man in the driving seat took me aside and advised that I pay a minimum amount to avoid further trouble. By now I was mentally drained and exhausted, my wife was terribly distressed, I didn’t want the ordeal to prolong even more.

“I agreed to pay Rs 1,000 and get done with it. The man immediately held up a PayTM QR code, waited for me to scan it and make the payment, and let us ago with a stern warning: ‘If I and my wife are ever seen walking on road at midnight, they would register a strong case against us and ensure that we keep circling around the court…’” Patri narrated.

Detailed probe ordered

He ended his tweets by asking, “Is this not terrorism, is this not legalized torture?… If the protectors of law themselves break the law and prey on hapless citizens, whom do we turn to?”

As Patri had tagged Bangalore City Police in his tweet, they took note of the incident and started a probe. They also appealed to people to approach them if they faced similar harassment. Anoop A Shetty, Deputy Commissioner of Police, North East Division, Bengaluru City, responded to the Twitter thread, assuring Patri of stern action.

“They will be identified and stern action will be taken against them,” he wrote.

Shetty also clarified that there was no law barring people from walking on the streets at night. He also said the two policemen, head constable Rajesh and constable Nagesh of Sampigehalli police station, have been suspended with immediate effect. “A detailed inquiry has been ordered into the incident,” he said.

(With agency inputs)