2 UT traffic policemen dismissed for accepting ₹500 bribe

A head constable and constable have been dismissed from service for accepting a ₹500 bribe from a Jammu resident, which was termed “extortion in uniform” by Shashank Anand, deputy inspector general of police (DIG), security and traffic, Chandigarh.

Head constable Daljeet Singh and constable Vikas, posted with the traffic wing of Chandigarh police were dismissed with instructions that their suspension from August 20, 2019, to July 21, 2020, not be considered as spent on duty.

“This act of commission and omission on part of Daljeet and Vikas, amply manifests their moral turpitude, ignoble intention and proclivity towards corruption and extortion in uniform,” Anand said.

He added, “Their continuance in police force even for a single moment more would not only cause irreparable loss to the functioning and credibility of Chandigarh police. Their wilful misconduct of highest order makes them unfit for retention in the police force any longer.”

They deserved deterrent punishment without any sympathy so that the rank and file of police force thought twice before committing such acts in future, he added.

Jammu resident Rakesh Gupta had alleged through a series of tweets in August 2019, that Daljeet Singh and Vikas had forced him to pay ₹500 as bribe. In a complaint on the Twitter account of the Chandigarh traffic police, Gupta had said that on August 9, 2019, while driving in his car with a Jammu and Kashmir registration number, he was stopped at the second light point after Sector 43 while going towards Ropar for jumping traffic lights. The two policemen had let him go after taking the money, he alleged.

Gupta gave his testimony to the police through video conferencing.

Anand also referred to the “well-known practice that police officials target outside vehicles in order to extort money by giving the threat of challan, suspension of driving license and seizure of vehicle.”

To check this practice, instructions were repeatedly issued that no vehicle would be stopped by any traffic police official for jumping traffic lights without a special naka being set up and senior officers and traffic marshal present at the spot.

Enquiry officer not spared

DIG Anand had pulled up the enquiry officer Uday Pal Singh for his failure to fix responsibility on Daljeet Singh and constable Vikas. Talking about the willingness of the enquiry officer to expose malpractices of subordinates, Anand, said, “enquiry officer while holding the delinquent guilty of charge against them has dithered in fixing the responsibility of Daljeet and Vikas, this speaks of lack of moral courage of enquiry officer.”