Off the cuff: Police allegedly demand victim 'commission' to catch accused
Precious time
Failure by members to adhere to the allotted time to raise demands has been an issue plaguing the Assembly for a long time now. Apart from the brief introduction, the pleasantries nearly takes over the entire time. By the time the members start explaining their demands, the given time lapses, forcing the speaker to ask the members to end their speech. However, some members go on, stretching the session to late evening. This puts scribes in a tight spot as we, unlike the members, have to file our copy before the deadline, and often the highlights of the proceedings fail to make it to these pages.
Surprise, surprise!
The police personnel at a police station in Virudhunagar were in for a surprise when a man on a bicycle arrived late one night. Upon stating to the personnel that he had come to file a complaint, the man was asked to wait as the officials were on patrol. However, the man went to the inspector’s cabin and sat in his chair. Stunned, the police questioned who he was, to which he replied he is Virudhunagar district SP Srinivasa Perumal and has come for an inspection.
Greasing palms
A victim who was cheated of Rs 8 lakh by an investor faced a double-whammy when he reached out to the police to catch the accused. The victim, from Avadi, had lodged a complaint at the Avadi Commissionerate CCB. After two months, the police contacted the victim to let him know they had traced the accused, but had not arrested him. Instead, they wanted to make a deal with the victim by getting 10% of the lost amount as commission, apart from feeding the entire police team for three days. The police told him a few days later they lost the trail on the accused, as he had taken time to accede to their request. “Money is not so important, getting the work done is,” the police said to the victim. Apparently, the police already knew that the accused had cheated several people to the tune of several crores of rupees.
Intra party woes
Bickering among councillors of different parties during the council meeting is a common sight, but within the same party not so common. During the recent zonal grievances meeting, ward 35 councillor Janaki demanded Madurai corporation mayor Indrani to take steps to reopen the paid corporation toilet located between wards 34 - 35 before the Chithirai festival. She also alleged that the mayor was showing partiality in order to complete works and refused to take up any works in ward 35. “I have personally raised these complaints with the mayor many times, yet no action has been taken.” Responding to it, the mayor stated that the issue will be solved if the councillors approach the corporation peacefully. This is the second time the mayor is getting into an argument with her own party members.
Online advantage
A Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation councillor was disappointed over the way the civic body officials respond to work requests submitted by them. The councillor revealed that while the officials respond and take action immediately to grievances filed online, they fail to take action on the grievances reported directly to them by the councillors. The disappointed councillor added that while online grievances at least get a proper response from officials, if not an immediate solution, councillors receive just excuses of work load or other lame reasons.
(Contributed by C Shivakumar, Harini M, Sahaya Novinston Lobo, MS Thanaraj, Aravind Raj; Compiled by Affan Abdul Kadar)