Comment Pieces

Indian Police- Plagued with Dishonesty

“He made me open my suitcase, saw three new pairs of shoes in it. He took one pair and got down the auto. This was supposed to mean to let me go, that now I need not go for a medical test with him to the police station.” 

Corruption in the police force is not a new age phenomenon. As seen often, the police exploit every opportunity that helps them fetch a bribe. Whether it is a case of robbery or even an epidemic. The list of potential candidates also includes a traveller who was travelling to a plague-hit city in Gujurat in the year 1994. So how did the policemen use this for his advantage? He ‘threatened’ to take the traveller to the police station for a medical test (Oh yes, where else would one head to for a ‘medical’ test?) but struck an easy deal en route. He staked claim to a pair of shoes that the traveller was carrying and changed his mind about the test. So much for quarantining a plague suspect!