- I Paid A Bribe
- 10 years ago
- 1339 views
I had to get my passport picture changed and I knew if I played…
- Police
- Police Verification for Passport
- Paid INR 400
I had to get my passport picture changed and I knew if I played by the book, I wouldn't have received my passport quickly. I have had experience with my brother and his wife's passport application process where they were called to the police station under the pretext of their having provided the police with false information in order to get their passports. They just wanted money which they had somehow not given them at the police verification stage.
This police officer, Muralilal Meena, (Police Station: Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur) who had occupied the women's cell at the police station, where he could conduct his business in hiding, asked me over the phone to bring 11 to 12 documents. He listed them out to me. I don't know for sure if that's required for when you get your photograph changed. My passport was still valid for four more years but I hadn't traveled in a long time and I hardly looked like in the photograph as I do now. I didn't want trouble at any airport, so I decided to get this changed. He claimed that it was as good as getting a new passport made, "so bring all the documents!"
You could argue that I was biased to think that he called for all the documents thinking I would not be able to bring a few and he would conveniently ask for his 'suvidha shulk', but when I did give him every single document he asked for he seemed a little disappointed and said he was supposed to send a negative clearance report back to the passport office but held on because he knew I was a genuine party (I was a day late because I was out of town), and that a leg of the investigation involves even the CBI and that he gave them a green signal before I even made it to the police station. He said he was dedicated to make sure my passport was made. When he saw I didn't get what he wanted, he began to ask me questions about all my documents, and asking about everywhere in India I had lived, with whom, for how long, what are their pin codes, their police stations' names, and on and on. I answered, and even pointed out coldly to him why he needed to ask all these questions. "Duty kar raha hoon, Sir," he replied. Eventually he asked for his 'fee' himself.
Ordinarily, they take Rs. 200-300 for a file, but when he saw that I had traveled abroad etc., he quoted Rs. 500/-. We negotiated and struck at a deal at Rs. 400/-
He escorted me all the way out of the station and asked me to call him should I ever need help with anything. Today is around 20 days from that incident, I have my new passport with me.