Friday, February 12, 2010

A most heartwarming story

reprinted from an email without permission....  The writer is an acquaintance of mine, and a former neighbor. 

We need more people like Ashim in this place..  Respect, man.

-----


ONE DOWN IN THE BRIBE TRIBE

                                                                                                 By Ashim Jain, 8th Feb 2010

Cops
were wiring me with two tiny hidden video-cameras, two audio recorders,
stuffing thousands of Rupees in my pockets, and briefing me like a
military commander does his cadets prior to an offensive.  One pocket had thousand-Rupee notes sullied with detective powder that would turn pink as evidence if dipped in treated water.  A cameraman was recording this process.  Had it not been for missing flood lights and makeup artists, it could have been mistaken for a 007-style film shooting.

 

This was Wednesday, 3rd
Feb. 2010, Bangalore city -- With instructions from Addl Director
General of Police, Mr. Rupak K. Dutta and Superintendent of Police, Mr.
K. Madhukar Shetty, inside the Lokayukt Building the police were
preparing a trap for a known corrupt senior officer of the Department
of Stamps and Registration, Karnataka -- the office that typically
registers real-estate transactions.

 

Weeks
ago, I had approached the Lokayukt -- a Karnataka Govt. anticorruption
agency -- complaining that this officer was demanding Rs. 32,000 in
bribes to put a few hundred Rupees worth of revenue stamps on court
documents, blackmailing me that otherwise he would rule the papers to
be real-estate sale deeds that would attract tens of lakhs in taxes and
penalties.  This had left me with few options: a) Pay the
bribe, b) File RTI applications and suffer accompanying delays, or c)
Use a more direct method through police this last one had appeared
worth trying.

 

"Anti-police
sentiments and irresolute courts that favor the accused," one officer
had told me, "...have made us reluctant to conduct chancy operations,
lest it further discredits our department.  So I'm not sure if we can help you, Mr. Jain."  He
was also apprehensive that my lawyer, who had declined my request to
cooperate with the police to nab the crook, could leak this info, which
would surely foil the dragnet.

 

However,
when the police saw a video that I had recorded a week ago using my own
hidden camera of the same officer negotiating down the Rs. 32,000 to
Rs. 18,000, they became more interested.  Next when I
disclosed the officer's name, one Mr. Mehaboob Khan, Mr. Shetty
immediately recognized him as the accused in another pending corruption
case in which they were unlikely to win a conviction due to weak
evidence.  Now, my case presented an opportunity to collect further evidence to tighten the noose around Khan.

 

With cautionary advice to me, police agreed to set up a trap.  An F.I.R. was filed and preparations were on, including video-taping all procedures for court evidence later.

 

After some rehearsals, we, including some 7-8 plainclothesmen, set out in a police van and my car.  Both vehicles stopped 200meters from the target building.  An officer disguised as a lawyer walked with me to the Shivaji Nagar, District Registrar building.  While the 'lawyer' waited outside, I went inside Khan's office and tried hard to get him to repeat his demand of bribes.

 

For
40 minutes straight, while another aggrieved citizen like me came and
left Khan's office in disgust, he denied having ever asked unofficial
money!  The fear of someone having spilled the beans
turned into joy when ultimately he came around and told me to hand over
the bribes to his typist.  To ascertain his voice got
recorded properly, my repeating the question promptly resulted in his
reiterating the amounts of bribes and official money.

 

Blowing
the whistle meant giving a missed call to the police team waiting
outside but the police inspector's phone was continuously busy at that
time!  I frantically redialed repeatedly.  By
that time, the typist had discovered that the notes were soiled with
detective powder, had alerted Khan and had himself run upstairs to wash
hands.  Khan also become increasingly nervous and was perpetually ringing his office bell to summon his office staff.  He was beckoning me to say that he would give the receipt for the entire amount now.

 

Fortunately,
one of the calls to the police had gone through and the swat team
stormed in within two minutes although these were the longest 2 minutes
of my life.  Ironically, it was the concern and anxiety of
a senior officer from the Lokayukt who was calling the team to find out
the progress that was keeping the critical phone line busy!

 

Like
trained commandos, every member of the crack team got busy in something
-- video-graphing evidence, detecting traces of the powder, searching
the office for cash, removal of cameras from my body and analysis of
the recordings.  Two hours later, Khan and the typist were formally under arrest being led out of the building into the waiting police van.

 

Police helped in getting my paperwork stamped with appropriate taxes the very next day.  An
officer from the Stamps and Registrations department had been specially
sent for me to the now empty DR's office where Khan had castigated me
and my lawyer.  Now they treated me with coffee and got the work done in a matter of minutes.  Legally only Rs.2000 was required on the documents.

 

With
only five District Registrars in Bangalore, Khan was probably an
officer of the rank of a highly paid judge and also had a side export
business -- his greed to accumulate yet more led to his shameful fall.

 

When
asked how the public could felicitate the Lokayukt and their police for
this capture, Mr. Dutta's reply was humble -- they want more public
coming forward with their complaints so culprits can be brought to book.  With spy cameras readily available at low costs, he was right that public can play a huge role in reducing corruption.  In
my opinion, it is in fact the duty of the educated middle-class to step
forward as the marginalized poor cannot in such situations.

 

While
we are quick to denounce the police when they botch, it is imperative
that we commend the police at Lokayukt for their brilliant and
professional performance in such cases.  Mr. Dutta, and
Mr. Shetty, senior IPS officers, have always been readily approachable
even on the phone -- contrast it to the impossibility of getting
through to most govt. officers as the lower staff forms an impregnable
brick-wall around them.  Had it not been for these officers, God knows where my papers would have been and where Mr. Khan.

 

ADDED (9 Feb 10):

My
objective of writing this report has been to spread the message that
it's easy enough for lots of people to do such acts when they face
corrupt, rude or slow govt. officials.  Any perceived risks in such operations are infinitesimally miniscule and police usually helps.  Arvind
Kejriwal, Magsaysay Awardee and known social activist says, with
people's participation, such acts can be turned into a movement that
would scare the corrupt.



No comments: