- साहसी नागरिक
- 8 years ago
- 4534 दर्शनों की संख्या
Driver refused to pay a bribe, traffic sergeant wrote him up for rash driving instead
Our rental driver was stopped by a traffic sergeant on the afternoon of July 17 at the intersection of Hazra and Gariahat roads "Ballygunge Fnari".
The initial pretext was to check if the driver had a commercial license, although per his license plates this should have been clear.
The sergeant asked him to pull over and demanded he hand over his license, insurance and other paperwork. We could see from inside the car that there was a negotiation going on. After about 30 minutes, our driver came back with a challan.
Per the challan, he was accused of rash driving. His license was taken away and he was to pay a Rs. 500 fine. There was no way he could drive rashly because the entire stretch was congested with buses, cars, lorries and people.
Our driver told us that he was asked to pay a Rs. 300 bribe but he refused, as his contention was there was nothing wrong with his paperwork.
The sergeant and his assistant left the area on his motorbike, most likely to carry out their devious scheme at another intersection. On our way, we did see several other cars being randomly stopped along the EM Bypass.
We had earlier read and heard about traffic police demanding bribes from lorries and buses. It looks like the disease has spread to private citizens as well.