Be careful of your belongings if you live in Bengaluru. If you lose your expensive phones, gadgets and other valuable items, that is solely your fault and the Bangalore Police will add to your worry by giving you an earful of why you must no use such expensive items. Clearly in HSR layout police station that is the message that is running around. And what is even worse, they claim to be doing all the work in the country.
“Anything that happens anywhere in India all of them land up at the HSR Layout Police Station. I am going to put a board stating that the station is closed,” said a policeman. And if you thought the differential treatment was only to people who lost their valuables, one round into that station will prove to you that basically you will meet this kind of response for whatever your issue is.
My cousin sister lost her iPhone last Saturday. Her phone fell off her pocket and within seconds was picked by the auto driver she used for her commute. Unable to gather her wits within seconds, she was unable to record the number of the auto. She then went to the HSR layout Police station to file a complaint and was continuously tracking the movement of her phone via the Find My iPhone App. The first question that she was asked: “How can the auto driver pick your phone before you realized? Can something like this happen? Are you faking?”
Yes sir, she was faking! She should be ultra stupid to walk into your station of all places in Bangalore to cook up a story of the missing phone on a Saturday afternoon braving the rain, just for thrill, you see! What are we playing, the Roadies Challenge?
After all the haggling, she stayed strong and even showed them the app and forced the policeman to accompany her to try and locate the phone. While they cribbed about it for long, seeing her strong they did their bit and went with her. However this did no good as the phone was later switched off.
Another round of ordeal for FIR
Since the phone was given to her by the office, she was asked to produce a FIR for further process. That’s where the ordeal began. Two rounds to the police station did her no good. And finally on Saturday (after a week) when she went there again, she was asked why she used such an expensive phone if she did not know how to keep them safe. What are we dealing with here – moral science classes?
As if one person saying that was not enough, the entire staff took turns of taking lessons on “safety of phones” and how they cannot issue an FIR and that she was faking. They shunted her floor after floor and the ordeal only continued with the last being “They all come here and trouble us. Don’t know to speak Kannada, don’t know to handle anything. They simply come.”
So what is the point here then that they don’t know to speak Kannada? Or that iPhones are not to be used unless you are very sure you will not lose them? Or that if you lose them it’s your headache and you may very well deal with it?
My frightened sister almost in sobs called me and did not complain on her ordeal but on the trouble being given to another complainant over a threatening letter that he received from an unknown source. This time around again the question remained the same – “How do we know it came to you? How do we know you are not faking?”
The letter was addressed to the man of the house and had some threatening messages written and the sender had not declared his address or name.
If this is the way the police and the law and order in the city functions, I think we better not lose anything henceforth.
Can somebody please tell me what the mandate of police in such cases is? I fail to understand the lack of willingness to help a citizen. This to me is a governance issue!
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Getting an FIR lodged for a stolen phone is a royal pain. When I lost mine (stolen in a crowded BMTC bus), I did some searching on the blogosphere and found that you cannot file a stolen FIR. They just won’t let you do it. If you’re adamant they’ll just shunt you to the next jurisdiction. I went to the station and asked to file a ‘lost’ complaint. ‘Stolen’ apparently places a liability on them to find it and arrest the thieves, while ‘Lost’ is your problem, and the FIR is just a register so that you have proof that the phone doesn’t belong to you if someone else uses it for mischief. Note that in many cases, theft insurance doesn’t work because to claim that you need a ‘stolen’ FIR. (Not sure on this, I only read some experiences in some blogs). Of course there are also questions about how much you earn etc, so that they can extract their proportionate entitlement.
Had the same experience3 weeks back when i lost my HTC worth 25k. For the Mahadevapurs police inspector, i have to go to RamMoorthy nagar PS for complaints. Then his comment was that ” you IT guys buy expensive phones, and donno how to take care of it. u must buy only cheap phones” . I said i can give complaint anywhere and wher i lost is in the KR puram to ITPL bus and not in ram moorthy nagar. his reply ” Do you think am not alert. I am alert to take decisions and dont dare argue with me” Moron kept talking, and then i went to whitefiled Ps and filed a complaint. but i had to write it was lost /mis-placed by me and not Pick-pocketed or theft.
Pick pocket or theft will force the Police to investigate and lost or misplaced need not go through investigation. so they follow the simplest way to close this case and give us a complaint slip. Still supporting the thieves and not the citizens and so the thieves are more and more daring to do the crime.Starts with mobile phone, ends up slitting throats for chains. Bangalore CITY will be made a crime city soon.
this is common problem everywhere. few years back someone lifted my wallet in a bmtc bus.. to apply for DL i need to get an FIR, I wrote i lost wallet instead of pickpocket.
I dont know the mandate and all Divya but u can file a written complaint with the following authorities.
The Commissioner of Police,
Bangalore City Police,
No:1 Infantry Road, Bangalore – 1
Phone: 080 22942222, 080 22943322
Email: compolbcp@ksp.gov.in
Lokayukta
http://lokayukta.kar.nic.in/TELEPHONE.pdf
Home minister
Sri K J George
Hon’ble Home Minister
Room No.316,316A,III Floor,
Vidhana Soudha
Bangalore-560 001
080-22251798
Fax : 22250225
The policemen know their system in and out and know how to avoid the ‘pitfalls’ of having to do their jobs.
Looks like Gujarat has found a potential solution – http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sanand-police-station-ahmedabad-gujarat-police-complaint-complaint-kiosk/1/370931.html
They have enough example from the highest levels of the political and bureaucratic class. On the other hand my observations is that they are generally understaffed and could be minimising their work because so much record-keeping is involved if they do work.
This is recognized in the case of traffic of fences where “compounding” is permitted in certain cases.
Yes, what Shivakeshava said was the exact thing I did. I went to Ramamurthy Nagar police station to report an assault on my friend. They kept me waiting from moring 10:30 till afternoon 2 along with my advocate. The advocate was a new guy and didn’t have much clue how things work. Later I rang up my uncle and he advised to file 2 complaints at the commissioner office through single window counter. We drafted 2 complaints, one for the assault case and one against Ramamurthy Nagar police station for hesitating to file the complaint and submitted it to the single window.
After 2 days I got call from Ramamurthy Nagar police station and I went there and was treated much better than before. The enquired about the incident and took relevant information and agreed to make the FIR at the earliest. I am sure they had to give a written explanation to commissioner office for the complaint I filed against their police station.