| A day of hectic activity: Damage-control drill did help police to some extent | | Under severe mental pressure, "victim" mechanic says he doesn't want to face police | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Oct 3: It was a day of hectic activity at an across the Tawi bridge police station as a dusk to dawn damage-control exercise, taken up by a "senior" cop in the face of his and his subordinates' criticism over the allegation of Rs 25,000 having been extorted by them as bribe to release an "innocent" mobike mechanic in a motorcycle theft case, kept the cops on their toes the whole day.
Mechanic Raj Kumar of New Plots was under so much of mental pressure that he preferred not to give any anti-police statement, saying he would not like to face police again in this case.
According to a senior police officer, the state vigilance organisation has taken a note of the Early Times report published in the today's edition under caption -- Rs 25,000 allegedly taken as bribe to release "innocent" mechanic - and started a secret probe into the whole episode that led to the mechanic's "arrest" on Thursday and his subsequent release Friday evening.
The news item remained a topic of discussion in the state police circles throughout the day today. A number of senior officers at the police headquarters called up Early Times office and appreciated the newspaper's efforts to highlight "corruption" at the thana level.
The news item was also shared by Jammuites on the social networking sites. As the anti-police comments piled up and the buzz grew about the change of the concerned police station SHO, a damage-control exercise was hurriedly taken up. Raj Kumar, who was released last night, was again called to the police station this morning and pressurised to give a statement favouring the concerned police. The poor man obliged as he could not muster courage to resist.
A bribe of Rs 25,000 was alleged to have been taken by police from Raj Kumar for his fault of buying a stolen motorcycle from a trash dealer 3-4 years back.
The mechanic, who runs a motorcycle repair workshop somewhere at Nagrota, was said to have been picked up Thursday by the cops of a police station, that falls across the Tawi bridge near Gandhi Nagar, after his name figured in the interrogation of some accused, police sources said.
A trash dealer, who lived in a rented accommodation near his Nagrota workshop, 3-4 years back approached Raj Kumar to sell him his motorcycle, which had a rusted body and torn tyres, as he needed money for the treatment of his pregnant wife. Since it could not be repaired, the trash dealer sold it for Rs 1,500 only. The mechanic then took out its parts and used them in the motorcycles that came to his workshop for repairs. He, however, did not know that the mobike was a stolen one, sources claimed.
Though he was picked up by police, his name was not mentioned in the FIR. He was also not kept in the lockup along with the other accused in the case and was allowed to sit in the Munshi's room, sources said.
Raj Kumar's family members then approached some prominent citizens and a politician, requesting them to tell police that he was innocent. Sources said when the politician spoke to the SHO concerned, he refused to release him, alleging that he was one of the accused in the case.
A contact was then established by some friends of Raj Kumar, including one Karanjit Singh of Janipura, with the concerned police lateSaturday evening and the alleged deal was struck for his release. "Rs 23,000 were alleged to have been given to the "senior" cop, Rs 500 to his subordinate and Rs 200 to another cop in the police station," his friends told Early Times and said they were even ready to give their statement before state DGP K Rajendra or any other senior police officer.
Sources said police had recovered some stolen motorcycles, LPG cylinders and other costlier items on the disclosure of the accused who were in police custody.
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