BENGALURU: The recent incident in Sampigehalli, in which two policemen of a Hoysala patrol vehicle had extorted a married couple for walking on the street at midnight, has raised questions among citizens, especially youngsters, whether is it safe to stay out late at night.
While citizens fear encounters with robbers and thugs, the incident has now made them cautious of night beat policemen. However, senior police officials say steps have been taken to ensure that such incident are not repeated.
Shubham Shrivastava, marketing analyst and resident of Marathahalli, said that walking on the street at any hour should not be an issue in any city. “In case a couple is found in a compromising position, police can be justified in questioning them, but not for walking on the street at 12.30pm,” he said, adding that many people (him included) have been stopped by police officers, their phones snatched and searched for keywords like weed or ganja, to find a reason to accuse them.
Deep Das, a software developer from HSR Layout, said he had been harassed by police on multiple occasions. “The recent incident shows how police abuse their power even when they have no legal right to this kind of harassment, and privacy breach in the name of keeping us safe. They shouldn’t do it, couple or no couple. My work ends pretty late, so my partner and I usually get to roam around only at night. This behaviour by cops is not new, but I am scared to go out now. I’ll have to be on the lookout for both cops and criminals.” Bedapratim Sarma, a multimedia journalism student from Assam, feels that police target people from other states as they are “easy targets”.
Additional Commissioner of Police, Law & Order (East Division) A Subramanyeswara Rao, however, said a stern warning has been issued, following the incident in Sampigehalli. “Inspectors have been warned that disciplinary action will be taken against them if any such incident is reported in their jurisdiction. Patrol staff have also been instructed about the consequences if they indulge in such behaviour.”
He also advised the public caught in such a situation to immediately contact the emergency number 112, or call the local police station or senior officers on their mobile phones, which are available in public domain. But what if police take away their phones? “Then they should insist on taking them to the nearest police station.”