• I Paid A Bribe
• 15 years ago
• 265 views

An expensive stroll

• Police
• Police Verification for Passport
• Paid INR 200

On a warm summer night, I decided to take a break from working on my project in the middle of the night. I decided to take a walk around the nearby St.John's Medical School grounds. While I was enjoying the night air, a police car pulled up to me and two police men got out. They started questioning me in Kannada and not being familiar with the language, I replied in English that I did not understand them. This only caused them to get even more agitated. Eventually, another police man arrived on a motorcycle and conferred with them. In halting English, he told me for some form of ID. I handed over my International drivers license which they refused. When they asked me for my passport, I replied that I had left it in my apartment. Noticing my unease, he said that if I did not pay a fine of Rs.500 for trespassing, they would haul me in for suspicious behavior. When I refused saying that I was not doing anything wrong, he threatened me with accusations of being a terror suspect. As they handed me my ID, he took a look in my wallet and noticed that I had only Rs.200 on me. He quietly pocketed it and the three law enforcers rode into the night.