Frequent bribery cases earning a bad name for police

JAIPUR: When sub-inspector Nathu Singh was caught taking bribe at Ajmer's Adarsh Nagar police station on Friday, the anti-corruption bureau's trap left many people shocked.
The catch had come within two months after a number of police officers had landed in ACB net on corruption charges in a single case. The ACB had on January 2 arrested former SP, Ajmer, Rajesh Meena and lodged cases against an additional SP and 11 SHOs on corruption charges.The fact that sub-inspector Singh dared to demand bribe despite ACB action on such a large scale only indicated the growing corruption in Rajasthan police. The SI's trap was also followed by that of an SHO in Bikaner on Thursday.
The ACB has lodged FIR against two IPS officers - Rajesh Meena and Ajay Singh, about 13 SHOs, one addl SP and one DySP among several other policemen over the past eight months. Though, the ACB officers argue that the cases are coming to light due to agency's increased vigilance and intelligence gathering tactics, these traps have earned a bad name for the police department.
"Before former Ajmer SP Rajesh Meena was arrested on corruption charges on January 3, if a person stood in front of his office and watch the activities going on inside, he would be able to know within a day that bribes were exchanging hands openly. Such was the state of affair in Ajmer," said an official.
The officer said that the network involving the SP allegedly demanding a fixed monthly amount from every police station was running fearlessly.
"Nobody had approached the agency. We had developed the intelligence on our own and busted the network," said the officer.
When contacted, DG, ACB, Ajit Singh told TOI that some changes in the agency's functioning over the period of time has led to increased awareness among people against corruption.
"Some of the methods including catching the middlemen whom most corrupt government employees use to take bribe on their behalf has yielded results. As a result several middlemen have been arrested recently along with the corrupt employees," said Singh.
He added that in most cases, the complainant face a strange situation. "A government employee would not demand bribe, but will not get the complainant's work done. It indicates that the employee wants the bribe and don't want to say so. So we patiently apply several methods until the employee comes out in open and demands the money himself or through a middleman," said Singh.
He added that when action is taken against government officers on senior level, it boosts people's confidence. "They think that action is being taken on their complaints," said Singh.
Cops & the graft
ACB arrested probationary IPS officer Ajay Singh posted as addl SP in Ajmer along with a middleman for taking bribe to influence a police case.
August 30, 2012 : A lawyer was arrested by the ACB for taking bribe on behalf of circle officer, Kathumar, Mannaram Meena in Alwar district. Meena escaped, however, surrendered recently.
January 2, 2013 : Former SP, Ajmer, Rajesh Meena arrested along with a middleman for getting a fixed monthly amount from each police station. The ACB subsequently lodged FIRs against 11 SHOs and the former addl SP Lokesh Sonwal.'
February 22, 2013 : Circle Inspector in Bikaner Indra Singh Rathore was arrested with an unaccounted amount of money. The CI tried to escape when he realised the ACB trap, however, was caught.