BENGALURU: A bike pillion rider has accused the Vijaynagar traffic police of assaulting him and demanding a bribe of Rs 3,000, instead of a legal fine of Rs 10,000, after stopping him and the bike rider for drunk driving. The police have, however, rubbished the allegations and said the entire transaction has been recorded on the body cam worn by the police, and they are contemplating filing a criminal case against the biker for making false allegations against them.
While catching motorists for drunk driving on Friday night near GT Mall on Magadi Road, the traffic police stopped a bike and found its rider Kiran, 28, riding under the influence of alcohol.
Another person, Eshwar, was on the pillion.
“The rider refused to blow into the breathalyser and started creating a ruckus. Both the rider and the pillion, who are residents of Cholurpalya, called their friends to the spot. As the situation was going out of control, the Hoysala patrolling police were called to the spot. As they were drunk, one of them fell unconscious and was shifted to a hospital in the patrolling vehicle,” said an officer.
The traffic police asked the rider to produce his licence, but he refused.
Later, his motorbike was seized and was asked to pay the fine in the court. Next day, after paying the fine in the court, Kiran produced the bill at the Vijayanagar traffic police station and got his bike back.
However, Eshwar alleged that the policemen had demanded a bribe of Rs 3,000 to allow them to skip paying Rs 10,000 fine. He charged that when he tried to send the money through UPI, the policemen demanded it in cash as they did not want any proof of payment.
When he refused to pay in cash, the traffic police called the Hoysala and took both him and Kiran to the jurisdictional Govindarajanagar law and order police station, claiming that they tried to obstruct officers on duty. Eshwar further accused a traffic police sub-inspector and another constable of kicking him when they went to take their bike.
“The allegations are all false and baseless. We have proof of everything. Eshwar, the person who is making the accusations, was riding pillion and the rider Kiran who is booked has remained silent. This is a ploy by them to show the traffic police in bad light,” the officer added.