Corruption mechanisms in Mumbai Police
In May this year, commissioner of police Arup Patnaik issued a circular in which he asked for a list of long-serving orderlies (constables, sub-inspectors) of senior police officers. The circular noted that certain officers had been performing the same duties under the same bosses for years together due to which they had access to confidential information, which they could leak to criminal parties for their benefit. The circular also highlighted that many of these orderlies had been bribed by hoteliers and other big shots. Soon after the circular was issued, 97 orderlies were shunted to the Local Arms Division — considered as a punishment posting. Corruption in the police force is a known fact. The police force has always figured in the top three government departments, when it came to prosecuting officials on corruption charges. Insider sources in the police department have revealed startling information to this correspondent, highlighting the modus operandi used by officers across ranks to get bribes. This is, however, not to state that every police department operates in this manner, or that every official is corrupt.
The rate card and the modus operandi: Every police station has a senior police inspector (head of the police station). His subordinates, on an average, include four inspectors, three to four assistant inspectors, 10 sub-inspectors and around 200 constables. According to the source, the 91 police stations in Mumbai are classified into three categories A, B and C, depending on the potential they offer to the officers to get bribed. Example, police stations like Colaba, Bandra fall in category A, while Sion, VP Road in B and police stations like Govandi and Deonar in C. “An officer of the rank of assistant commissioner of police is in charge of around two to three police stations that fall under his ‘division’. An ACP from category A easily makes around Rs. 1 lakh a month through licence renewals and permissions,” said a policeman, who is an orderly to an IPS officer, but requested anonymity.
According to the officer, a senior police inspector from a category A police station makes around Rs. 2 lakh per month, while his orderly makes around Rs.20,000. “While the ACP is higher in rank, his/her post, unlike the senior PI’s, is only for administrative purposes, which is why he/she earns far less than the latter. Money for the senior police inspector is either collected by his orderly or a mill special constable. The hafta is generally collected from bars, gambling or prostitution dens, hawkers etc. A senior PI also gets money from local builders and other entrepreneurs directly,” the source claimed. Of the four inspectors at the police station, PI (crime) makes the most, earning almost around `1 lakh a month as he has the scope of getting money from both the victims and accused, as he investigates sensitive cases in which high-profile people are often involved. After him, the PI (administration) makes money by accepting bribes for licence renewals, passport verifications and permissions for events. 2 other inspectors (PRO; law & order) make the least as they are not directly involved in handling cases or licences & are limited to bandobast duties & community meetings.
The sub-inspectors take bribes either to sort out small matters that are reported to the police station. Of the other constables attached to the police station, ones in category A stations get around `3,000 per month, those in B make around Rs. 1,500 and C category constables get under Rs. 1,000 per month. There are around four to five beat chowkies per police station, which are headed by two assistant police inspectors (APIs) and around eight constables — all working in shifts. An API makes around Rs. 35,000 per month, 10 per cent of which he parts with the senior PI. Every police station also has a mobile van that patrols the area, which collects haftas from hawkers during nakabandis and late night open joints. A head constable or an assistant sub-inspector and four constables working in two shifts are attached to the mobile van.
Money minted by side branches of the Mumbai police: The black sheep in the control room too don’t spare victims, the source claimed. “If there is a brawl in a bar and the bar owner contacts the control room, the officers pass on the information to the mobile vans, only if they are also paid their fixed monthly hafta by the bar,” the source said. The Local Arms Division barely makes any money through way of bribes. They are generally involved in ferrying undertrials from jails to courts and are called during bandobast duties. At most, they take money for facilitating meetings of accused with their family members or allowing a meal on the way to an accused for a price. The G branch of the special branch that is involved in passport verifications, issuing NOCs or character certificates make money by charging those, who are in need and want their work done urgently. Those in technical postings like the wireless, motor transport, fingerprint departments, earn the least. Of all branches, the social service branch makes the most as it is directly involved in raiding bars, pubs, brothels etc. They have independent agents (not from the force) to collect haftas on their behalf.
The big fish: The IPS officers generally do not engage its staff for collecting money and are not interested in getting money from small time bars or gambling dens. Chartered accountants, or outside agents generally do the job for them. In most cases, money comes from big builders, hotels, malls, etc, who want to maintain good relations with a senior police officer in charge of the jurisdiction where they are located.
How eateries run throughout the night? A fast-food joint owner working in the central region of Mumbai, explained how he manages to stay open all night. “We give a regular monthly hafta to the police station and also offer free food to the officers on night shift. Sometimes, we have to give as many as 35 pav bhajis to policemen on night duty,” he said. “Once, a very honest woman police officer was posted as DCP in the zone. We had a tough time then, especially when she carried out surprise visits in the area. But we were alerted by the policemen themselves, who asked to lower our shutters till the DCP passed from our area,” he said. A bar owner in Dadar (west), however, said that the police never raided his bar because he followed the law. “I shut down the bar by around 12 am, though I have a permit to keep it open till 1.30 am. The police takes haftas from those bars that stay open beyond the permissible time limit,” the bar owner said.
Where there is power, there is corruption: Police chief
“Any department that has power is prone to corruption. With power also comes discretion. So if an officer wants to take action against some illegal activity, he has the power to prosecute the offender or also has the discretion to ignore…corruption happens across industries and professions,” said Arup Patnaik, commissioner of Mumbai police. When asked whether transferring the orderlies of senior inspectors would prove to be effective in curbing corruption, Mr Patnaik said, “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” On what measures he has taken to take action against the corrupt activities of IPS officers, Mr Patnaik said, “I will take departmental action if I find any IPS officer in the Mumbai police indulging in corrupt practices, but ideally for every rank of policemen, there is a dedicated agency in Maharashtra — the state Anti-Corruption Bureau — that has the mandate to look into corruption,” he said.
“Any department that has power is prone to corruption. With power also comes discretion. So if an officer wants to take action against some illegal activity, he has the power to prosecute the offender or also has the discretion to ignore…corruption happens across industries and professions,” said Arup Patnaik, commissioner of Mumbai police. When asked whether transferring the orderlies of senior inspectors would prove to be effective in curbing corruption, Mr Patnaik said, “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” On what measures he has taken to take action against the corrupt activities of IPS officers, Mr Patnaik said, “I will take departmental action if I find any IPS officer in the Mumbai police indulging in corrupt practices, but ideally for every rank of policemen, there is a dedicated agency in Maharashtra — the state Anti-Corruption Bureau — that has the mandate to look into corruption,” he said.
