Victim Satish Chauhan

Akela

A POLICE constable attached to the Government Railway Police (GRP) Station at Kalyan allegedly robbed a passenger of 600 Saudi riyal while pretending to check his luggage. As if this were not enough, when the matter was exposed, the constable offered a bribe to settle the matter through his colleagues.

The incident took place on January 18, 2017, around 10.15am at Kalyan station. A passenger, Satish Chauhan (28), wanted to board the Godan Express from platform number 4. To see him off, his friend Umakant Chauhan was at the station. Around 10.15am while he was waiting for the train, the constable appeared there. The constable was in uniform. He had covered his nameplate with his cap. Later ABI (abinet.org) came to know constable’s name was Sonawane.

The constable demanded to see the ticket. As Satish gave him the ticket, the constable pocketed it. The constable then took him into a room, which might have been the TC room, on platform number 5. The constable ordered the passenger to show what was in his pocket and bag. The constable also pocketed his mobile phone, passport and wallet. As the constable saw 1,620 Saudi riyal, he started telling him it was illegal to carry the currency after the recent demonetization and Satish should change it to Indian rupees at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

“Constable ne mujhse kaha ki tum sab note mujhe de do main RBI me deposit kar dunga. Maine us se kaha ki main deposit kar dunga to woh gusse se bole: Azamgarh ke RBI me deposit karega kya?” said Satish.

After a little argument, the constable pocketed 600 Saudi riyal and the remaining he handed over to Satish, asking him to leave the station premises immediate, all the while threatening to put him in jail for possessing illegal money.

By this time the Godan Express had left the station. After realizing he had been robbed, Satish called his relative, Jogendra Chauhan, and narrated the entire story, including how the constable had robbed him of his 600 Saudi riyals. Jogendra contacted Ulhasnagar resident and social worker R K Yadav and sought his help. R K Yadav rushed to Kalyan station. Yadav was inquiring about the incident a little later when five to six GRP constables gheraoed him, offering to settle the matter. Two constables followed him till Ulhasnagar and adopted all means to persuade him to settle the matter. They even offered him a Rs 20,000 bribe. They called more than a dozen times, requesting him not to give a complaint to Commissioner of Police Niket Kaushik.

“I will register a complaint with the Commissioner of Police soon and demand strict action against the constable,” said Satish.

Satish Chauhan is a native of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. He is a daily wage worker in Saudi Arabia. He landed in Mumbai to go to Azamgarh and halted for a day at Jogendra Chauhan’s Mharalgaon, Kalyan, residence.

Robbery : Regular practice

The GRP officials rob innocent passengers on a regular basis on the pretext of checking luggage and mobile. GRP officials targets poor and illiterate passengers belonging mostly to Bhiwandi and working in loom units.
Sources said that a senior police inspector has illegally deployed five constables to check passenger’s luggage and extort money from them. Sources also claim these officials earn Rs 30,000 to 40,000 per day and give a cut to the senior police inspector as well as the assistant commissioner of police.

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