Editor,
In the last three decades, different types of cases have been reported in the media, which indicates the criminalisation of the Indian police. These are found in three forms: (1) Policemen committing crimes themselves; (2) Policemen helping criminals in committing crimes and getting a share out of it; and (3) Policemen resigning from the department and joining militant groups engaged in killing, looting and abduction.
In these three types, we have not included police corruption, which by itself is a serious crime.
Robberies, extortion, kidnapping for ransom and rape of innocent women are some of the crimes allegedly committed by the men in khaki.
Most of the traffic policemen in Mumbai and elsewhere in the country too keep fining people for no fault of theirs just to achieve their target.
When this writer complained about the harassment motorists face at the hands of our traffic policemen, the traffic department did nothing to help me out. Instead, I was abused in filthy Marathi language. One traffic policeman even snatched away my mobile phone while I was recording the abusive language he gave to a motorist and didn’t give it back to me.
Even during the lockdown period, the police in India harassed citizens a lot when they stepped out of the house to buy vegetables, milk and foodgrains. They even beat the common man with batons and made them do sit-ups.
Jubel D’Cruz,
Mumbai