Mumbai Traffic Police has an elaborate system of corruption, alleges cop in petition

A head constable from Mumbai Police has filed a criminal writ petition in the Bombay High Court in which he has alleged that there is a shocking system for corruption and bribery in place in the city's Traffic Police Department.Sunil Bhagwantrao Toke, the petitioner, has worked with the Mumbai Police for 32 years. From 2014 to 2016, Toke was working with the Traffic Police Department.[caption id="attachment_3191956" align="alignleft" width="380"]

Representational image. Reuters[/caption]In his petition, Toke has alleged that in each region or division of the Traffic Police Department, there are two constables called "cashiers" who are unofficially in charge of collecting daily or monthly 'hafta' (extortion money) from two and four wheeler showrooms. This bribe ranges from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000.Toke has also alleged that the Traffic Police collects daily 'hafta' of Rs 100 or Rs 200 per day. He added that the department also collects Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 per month from construction sites in Mumbai for "running ready-mix cement vehicles, sand, bricks and other construction material vehicles".This petition will be heard in the high court on 23 January. Toke also told Firstpost that he had earlier complained to the Director General of Police and Commissioner of Police but no action was taken.In his petition, he also alleged that the illegal transportation of sand was rampant in Mumbai because the Traffic Police Department charged Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 for every overloaded sand truck. Illegal school vans and buses were also allegedly allowed to run for Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 per month.The department also allegedly took around Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 per month from malls, hotels, beer bars and marriage halls for allowing illegal parking of vehicles on the road.Toke also alleged in the petition that even though only a police sub-inspector or an officer with a higher rank could check documents of vehicles on the roads, traffic police constables and the assistant police sub-inspector also harassed commuters on the road by asking them for documents and "extracting huge amounts without passing any receipts".The department also collected Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 per month from three-star, four-star and five-star hotels for allowing illegal parking on roads, according to the petition. The department allegedly charged Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000 for the shooting of serials, movies or advertisements on the roads.In cases of drunk driving, the petitioner alleged that even though the concerned team from the department caught 40 to 50 people during a drive against drunken driving (which takes place twice a week), only 5 to 10 cases are officially shown. This is because the others are let off are extracting Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 from them.