98 cops filmed taking bribe from Bluelines

A sting operation claims 98 traffic policemen demand and accept bribes from Blueline bus drivers, reports Harish V Nair.

A sting operation claims to have filmed 98 traffic policemen demanding and accepting bribes from Blueline bus drivers at 23 traffic lights across the capital. CDs of the film reached the Delhi High Court on Wednesday.

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The man who ‘stung’ the police with the help of a Blueline bus-owner is 34-year-old Chetan Prakash, a west Delhi property dealer. Prakash has a history of conducting such operations. Sometime ago he had filmed about 59 policemen taking bribe from bootleggers. Then also, he had submitted the tapes to the high court and all 59 had been suspended after the court-ordered enquiry.

This time, a “harassed” Blueline bus-owner, Sanjay Kumar, had approached Prakash after hearing about his past exploits.

Submitting the original CDs of the Blueline sting to a bench headed by Chief Justice MK Sharma, Prakash’s lawyer Manish Khanna said, “An organised extortion racket run by the traffic cops has been exposed for the first time.” The bench asked Khanna to hand over a copy of the CDs to Delhi Police Commissioner YS Dadwal and the Home Ministry.

The sting, carried out between September 12 and December 2 last year, claims to have captured 18 sub-inspectors, six hawaldars and around 74 constables in the act. Khanna told the court that the extent of the areas involved clearly show that it is an organised racket — practically every bus has to pass through at least one of the points listed (see box).

“Delhi stands painted red with the blood of 115 persons who have so far died under the wheels of the dreaded bluelines this year alone. With this expose, we know why the traffic cops do not want to act and why, despite knowing everything, they look the other way,” said Khanna.