Patna: Cop asks for bribe from judge’s wife

TNN

Patna, 23 June 2011: Few state employees, if any, appear to be deterred by chief minister Nitish Kumar’s avowed war on corruption. So audacious are the corrupt that they spare no one, not even a VIP with right and high connections. 

 

Take this: Probationer sub-inspector Shweta Rani of the city’s Kotwali police station allegedly asked for graft from the wife of a retired Patna high court judge for verification of her passport application. 

 

As has been the practice in cases of such police verification, Rani recently visited the judge’s residence and cross-checked the documents and details of the judge’s wife in front of her. Once the exercise was over, she pretended to leave and allegedly asked the judge’s wife to pay her for "snacks and sweets".

 

 

Not the one to unnecessarily flaunt her status, the judge’s wife obliged the police recruit with Rs 200 out of sheer affection. But the uniformed woman would not accept it. She allegedly insisted for Rs 2,000, saying, "that’s the rate for this job". 

 

The judge’s wife couldn’t take it. Police sources said she called up DGP Neelmani and the top cop immediately responded, directing officials down the line to look into the matter. Patna SSP Alok Kumar suspended Rani and ordered an inquiry into the matter by an ASP. 

 

That’s not the end of the story. Soon after the SSP acted against the woman cop, an MLA sympathizer of hers swung into action to save her from further punishment. 

 

While Rani could not be contacted immediately, state police spokesman and ADG (HQ) Rajyavardhan Sharma told TOI on Wednesday that the probationer SI has since been suspended. 

 

Police sources referred to the quote, "Morning shows the day", and said since the SI has committed such a serious offence even while being on probation, she is liable to be dismissed from the service. It, however, remains to be seen if Rani’s bosses heed her political patron’s pleas or join the Kumar-led government’s war on graft.