• I Paid A Bribe
  • 12 years ago
  • 2528 views

First bribe at the age of 18 !!! :(

Reported on November 30, 2012 from Davanagere , Karnataka  ι Report #422

Before I begin let me state clearly that I am not proud ,one bit,of the above title. It all happened when I just joined my Engineering course. I was new to the town of Davangere and didn't know many people over here. One fine day (well, I really doubt the fineness of that day!!) it so happened that I had accidentally carried my mobile to the college and since we had exams going on we were not supposed to take it in the exam hall. So I , being the good student that I am , decided to keep it in my bag and place it outside the hall. However after the exam when I reached for my mobile in the bag I was shocked to see that there was nothing in it. I started to get a panick attack and started to shake the bag holding it upside down and even started pray (though i was not much of a believer) hoping to find the mobile in my bag after the talk with god, needless to say the mobile was still not in my bag. I eventually came out of the campus completely confused and started tracing my steps backwards and at that time thought that I must have kept my mobile in my room itself. No good news was awaiting me in my room either. I started to roam about the streets in a dazed manner and finally decided to give a call to my mobile in case some "nice hearted "person had "found" it. To my joy I could find that the call went through and it was ringing on the other end,but no answer. I waited for a minute and then called again, this time the mobile was switched off. Now i got really angry at the S.O.B who had my mobile and decided to lodge a complaint with the authorities against who ever it was. I catch an auto and go to the nearest police station all the while day dreaming that once I lodge a complaint the honorable policemen (who after all are civil servants) will use state of the art technology and confiscate my mobile from the scoundrel in a matter of days or weeks at most . I even imagined the bugger getting a life imprisonment for the same. Slowly my auto reaches the Police station and i get the heeba-jeebies as this is my first visit to such a place and the picture I could conceive ,from things that I had heard about stuff that happens in the police station, were not very **********. On reaching I somehow gather courage and start to move inside slowly with my college bag on my shoulder. There was a Constable sitting as a guard or something outside the station. He noticed me and started to interrogate me. I all the while shivering told him that I was here to file a complaint as I had lost my cell phone. He asked me if I had a letter with me to which I replied positively .I handed it to him and he started reading it. After reading the entire letter he says" you need a letter written in Kannada !". Disappointed that my letter was worthless , I told him that though I could speak Kannada I was not that very adept at writing it. He asked me not to worry and offered his help .I was amazed at his willingness to help a little engineering student . After writing it , he handed it over to me and said that if I were to do the entire procedures on my own it would be a very tedious task and again offered his help in the meanwhile adding that something to boost his energy would be nice . I was shocked as my ********** fell from a Hero's position to a position much much lower position than a Zero. I was willing to give him what he asked(200 bucks) and he took me to a person who registers the complaints,after which I never managed to see the trace of him. While the new guy (let's call him X) started the procedures for filing the complaint he asked me how much I had given the constable and I said 200 promptly. Now he slowly looks at me and says it isn't' fair if he gets that much for doing anything and I(i.e X) don't get anything. To which I immediately draw 400 bucks from my pocket and hand it to him. Now he looks at me and says that he knew that I was a bright little boy after all and that he understood that since it must have been my first time doing all this that I had to wait for somebody to tell me what to do. I sheepishly smile. After this he said that the formalities are over and that I could go and he would call if any more procedures are to be done. I heave a sigh of relief and head to my room. On the evening of the same day he calls up my landlord (as I had given his number as a contact) and asks him to tell me to come to the station immediately. On hearing the news I get very delighted thinking that my mobile was found and rushed to the station as fast as I could. There I am greeted by his (X's) wicked smile and he says "you know our Inspector is a very nice person and he is in charge of all this investigation and stuff. I will be going to ********** him tomorrow and will give your complaint to him directly. Though he is a very nice person he would be very happy if he comes to know that you have given him some "gift" as this indicates that you care about him ,and chances are that he might actually give priority to your case." I realized where the conversation was going and reluctantly dish out 500 bucks. He says thank you and that I could go and expect a call within two weeks max. Though I didn't get any call from the LIAR, I decide that maybe he was busy and forgot to call me and i call him. On knowing that it was I who called he says that the case is almost through but it will take a few more days and that he would call me personally and I needn't take any more trouble in calling him. Ever since that incident took place ,it has been four years and I still haven't received even a single call or notification saying that my mobile was found. The only thing that I got from this episode was firstly,a lesson to try my best to avoid a visit to the police station as they will eventually loot you dry if the thief hasn't succeeded in doing so and the second thing was that I was poorer 1100 rupees !!!

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