Bengaluru couple fined Rs 1,000 for ‘roaming on road after 11 pm’, cops suspended

A couple in Bengaluru claimed that police harassed them on Thursday night and demanded that they pay Rs 1,000 through the payment app Paytm for allegedly breaking the law by walking on the street in front of their home after 11 pm. Two police officers have been suspended for the same.

Karthik Patri, the aggreieved, took to Twitter to share his ordeal and tagged the Bengaluru police, asking if this was a form of "terrorism."

“I would like to share a traumatic incident my wife and I encountered the night before. It was around 12:30 midnight. My wife and I were walking back home after attending a friend’s cake-cutting ceremony (We live in a society behind Manyata Tech park)," he started his Twitter thread.

Patri claimed that as they approached the gate of their community, a patrol van pulled up next to them and two uniformed police officers asked to see their identification.

Even after they both produced IDs, the police took both of their phones and began "quizzing" them about their relationship, place of employment, parental status, and other matters.

“Though a bit shaken, we answered their questions politely. At this point, one of them took out what looked like a challan book and started noting down our names and Aadhaar numbers. Sensing trouble, we asked why we were being issued a challan," tweeted Patri.

One of the cops informed them that they were not permitted to "roam on the road" after 11 p.m. Despite their doubts about the existence of such a rule, the couple decided not to escalate the situation because it was late at night and their phones had been confiscated, according to Karthik Patri.

The couple apologised for not being aware of such a rule, but the police refused to let them go and demanded 3,000 as a penalty.

"It was clear as day that the two men (tragic if they were indeed policemen) were out to con unsuspecting civilians, and we ended up being their victims. We literally begged them to let us go, but they wouldn't budge. The more we pleaded, the harsher they became, even threatening to arrest us. It was as if we were stuck in quicksand - the more we struggled, the deeper we sunk. This continued for a long time, until the harassment became unbearable," he said.

The husband was then taken away by one of the officers after being "advised" to pay a minimal amount to stop further trouble.  Patri claimed he agreed to pay the policeman Rs 1,000, which the officer requested be sent to him via Paytm.

Taking note of the incident, the police responded to the Twitter thread.Anoop A. Shetty, Deputy Commissioner of Police, North East Division, Bengaluru City, thanked Patri for bringing it to their attention and promised him stern action.