A 22-year-old intern has alleged that two Bengaluru Police officers stopped him and tried to put ganja in his bag while he was returning from work at 4 am on Wednesday.
Bengaluru cops planting “ganja”?
A man in Bengaluru has alleged that police officials planted “ganja” in his bag and extorted money from him as he was returning from work. The man, identified as Vaibhav Patil, works as an intern at a private firm in Bengaluru. Vaibhav wrote on social media that he was returning after work from HSR Layout to Begur at around 3:45 am on Wednesday when he was stopped by police officials.
In a series of tweets, Vaibhav Patil alleged that the police officers harassed and threatened him for no fault of his. The 22-year-old hails from Himachal Pradesh and is working as an intern at a private firm in Bengaluru. On Wednesday, he had booked a Rapido (bike taxi) when he was allegedly stopped by cops near the Ayyappa Swamy temple, reported The Indian Express.
“One of the officers turned to me and asked questions like where I was coming from, where I was going, and what I was doing. I cooperated and answered. He then went ahead… I again cooperated and opened my office bag…,” he said.
“Next the police officer took my bag and started looking around. The other officer was behind me, talking about where I am from, what I do, and other stuff. Suddenly, the officer took out something that looked like a little twig and asked ‘what’s this?’ I couldn’t make out what that was. He then asked, ‘You smoke ganja?’ I was shaken to my core as I am not into any of that stuff.”
Patil said that the officer himself had put the “ganja” into his bag. “It was small enough to hide in his palm and even smaller to find out in low light. I am afraid to go out now, not because of criminals but police,” he said.
Police officials react
Patil said he was forced to admit that he smoked weed. “For something that was not mine nor I had any idea about its existence!” He further wrote that the police officers let him off with a strict warning after he handed over Rs 2,500 for no fault of his. He alleged that they also said his arrest would reward them Rs 15,000 each.
After this incident Police said they were trying to get in touch with the man. “A lot of people tweet various things on Twitter and we cannot take them as complaints. Let the person visit the local police station and register a complaint, as per the law. However, we will try to get in touch with the boy and take further action,” C K Baba, DCP (southeast division) said Thursday.
Patil stated that he had come to Bengaluru just six months ago and earned Rs 22,000 monthly as an intern.
“It is very difficult for me to get out of this trauma and I fear going home now after my night shift. I did not want to raise any complaint because I did not want to get into the legal procedure and bring more stress to me than mental peace after justice. That’s why I didn’t approach police in the first place and just made the incident public so that people are aware of what’s happening,” he said.
