City police apathy exposed in BEST conductor case

Gazala Shaikh, 19, upset at being verbally abused and threatened by a BEST bus conductor, was forced to visit three police stations before her complaint was finally registered. Mohamed Thaver reports.

Gazala Shaikh, 19, upset at being verbally abused and threatened by a BEST bus conductor, was forced to visit three police stations before her complaint was finally registered.

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Officials at Goregaon police station, which she went to immediately after the incident on December 10, took down her complaint, but halfway through, realised it had not taken place in their jurisdiction.

They directed Shaikh to Amboli police station, but the incident had taken place outside their jurisdiction as well and so she went to Oshiwara. "At Oshiwara police station, when I recounted the incident, the officer told me it was not possible that a conductor would behave so badly. They were very discouraging," Shaikh said.

In refusing to register her complaint, the Goregaon and Amboli police stations violated the procedure laid down in the police manual, which states that any police station that a victim approaches must take cognisance of the complaint, irrespective of jurisdiction. The police station should register a 'zero FIR', do what's urgently required and then transfer case.