Kolkata students allege bribery and assault charges against New Town cops – Times of India

KOLKATA: Two second year students of a private university in New Town have posted a video on social media raising allegations of bribery and assault against three policemen who allegedly took Rs 500 from them and demanded more money when they failed to produce a pollution certificate for their car which was parked on a road in New Town outside the university.
The video, shot on Monday morning, was shared on numerous occasions on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram where people across society criticised the cops for their act which led Bidhannagar Police to start an enquiry even though the youths hadn’t lodged an official complaint at any police station.
“An enquiry will be conducted,” said a senior officer of Bidhannagar Commissionerate responding to queries made by journalists.
However, till late on Wednesday, neither of the two students received any call from Bidhannagar police.
“We were just sitting in our car and listening to music after our first two classes had ended when the policemen knocked on us. They searched our car for liquor and illegal substances and sniffed two cigarettes lying on the dashboard before asking for car papers. The car’s pollution clearance document had expired days ago and we told them we were about to get it done on that day itself. But the cops threatened to issue a chalan of Rs 10,000 and sought some money as bribe to let us go. When we gave them Rs 500, they demanded more. We pleaded and they left but I shot a photograph of their car from behind, when one of them saw it and began assaulting us,” said Gourab Saha, a student of bachelors in tourism and a resident of Howrah.
While the cops targeted their assault on Saha’s friend Subho Bose, Saha – a youtuber – began filming the cops, who allegedly dropped the money and tried to leave. One of the policemen was also seen in the video apologising for their act.
“We were at fault for not having the pollution certificate. But the cops were also wrong for heckling and seeking bribes from us. We demand senior officers to look into the activities of these policemen,” said Saha.