A Cyclists encounter with the Railway Police at Bangalore - The Logical Indian

From the #Facebook page #LogicalIndian:

#MyStory

“I have read of inhumane incidents happening in many parts of the country. But you won’t totally believe unless you encounter one. Now onward I can totally believe them.

I frequently travel to China for my official trips. One thing I always adored by Chinese people is their use of electrical or foldable bicycle which they carry with them in the subway.

This time, after coming to India I desperately started looking for such bicycle if available in India. At last, I found one BTWIN HOPTOWN bicycle at Decathlon. I immediately bought and started using it. Once I was carrying it with me on the train between the route KR PURAM to Bangalore Cantonment. I am proud of the fact that I am not the one contributing to the pollution in Bangalore.

On 9/2/2016, while exiting from Bangalore Cantonment railway station one ticket checking officer lady caught me and started demanding fine for carrying a bicycle with me. I tried to convince her, once folded it is not a bicycle at all, it weights hardly 14 kg and it is very much portable. But she insisted on asking for 6 times the fare of travel. I asked her for the railway rules regarding this and the receipt of the bill. She took my pass and made me wait for another 30 minutes and later came with an excuse that she doesn’t know the luggage rules. I was getting late and told her 6 times my fare of travel is 60 rupees and that she can have 100 rupees and let me go. But she demanded 300 rupees.

I told her even if it is 1000 rupees I will pay but I need the receipt. She presented the same excuse that she doesn’t know the luggage rules. At last, I lost my patience and started to call her corrupt. After which she slapped me, pushed me and called her police constable colleague to take me to the jail for misbehavior. He took me to the jail and started beating me. His other colleagues joined him, they undressed me and started beating me with hand, leg and sticks 5 people at a time. I was sure that I was going to die that day and only my body will be found next day. I begged them in all the possible way I can. At last, after an hour, one guy listened to my plea and asked me to pay 5000 rupees. He asked me to call any of my friends to come with 5000 rupees and then can take me back.

I called my manager Harish Haswani who came with two mutual colleagues of ours. All three had to plea to the railway police for more than an hour on my behalf as Railway police have threatened them that they will file a case against me of misbehaving with a lady officer and that I have tried to press her breast. I was very much shocked to see to what level character of a woman can fall. After too much of plea and the bribe from my colleagues they released me. The lady officer fined me 190Rs stating my bicycle weight is 40kg although it is 14kg only. Also, she fined me for ticket-less traveling though I was having the monthly pass. Also, the receipt she issued is of date 8/02/16 and not 9/02/16 on which date I travelled and the incident took place. We all were too much afraid and didn’t dare to ask her for the mistake in the receipt. All of our focus was just to save my life and get me out of there.

I am undergoing the treatment. My left hand is fractured. My friend Sarfaraz is taking care of me. I am determined never to travel by train in Bangalore again. My fold-able  BTWIN bicycle will never get used again. But at the same time, I have lost all the focus at my work. Fortunately, my mobile has done the voice recording of the entire incident. My mobile recording along CCTV camera recording at railway is enough to prove if I have done remotely any kind of misbehavior with the lady. I am determined to teach a lesson to these corrupt officials even if it cost me my life. I have written letters to all higher police authorities as well as human rights commission seeking action in this regards. They will respond but very unfortunatly as per indian goverment office time.”

And Comments thereon:


@drmsbc has replied to tweets on this issue saying that Railway police is state police and doesn’t come under railways.

https://twitter.com/drmsbc/status/698662569536417793

I will delete this post in some time since my suggestion is perhaps no longer relevant.

In the meanwhile, if you have any suggestions regarding how to approach this issue then let me know.

My original post:
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The Logical Indian, could you please tweet this to @RailMinIndia
They are very prompt and they will take appropriate action.

Edit:
The summary of tweets made for this issue:
My tweet to @RailMinIndia:
https://twitter.com/amithbag/status/698599458020261888

Sidhharth (@siddhu_2011):
https://twitter.com/RailMinIndia/status/698595124578615296
(@RailMinIndia has replied to Siddharth’s tweet)

Avinash Surendran (@ashwin296):
https://twitter.com/ashwin296/status/698605652466405376

cibi s (@cibiindhu):
https://twitter.com/cibiindhu/status/698627271477870592

It looks like @drmsbc has replied to the tweets of Sidhharth, Avinash and cibi s:

“@cibiindhu @RailMinIndia @GMSWR @ashwin296 @siddhu_2011 Rly Police is state police, not under Rly. Clarification by @srdcmsbc.”
https://twitter.com/drmsbc/status/698662569536417793

So essentially it seems that they are saying that they can’t do much since Railway police is state police. Is that ticket checking lady also under Railway police and not Railway? Requesting Sidhharth, Avinash and cibi s to reply to @drmsbc and ask for clarification.
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Comment #2:

Laws that were made to protect women are being used as a tool to extort money, take revenge, cry victim when a woman herself is the wrong doer and to teach a "lesson" to a man for being a man by the "empowered women". This is happening not only in metros but smallest areas around the country. While crime against Innocent and vulnerable women is happening everywhere, false accusations against innocent and vulnerable men and boys like one above is on a rise too. While there are stringent laws to take care of the former, there is little one can do in case of latter. Some time before everyone realizes the need to control this menace.

Comment #3:

#PMOIndia, Narendra Modi, Suresh Prabhu
After such incidents, do you still expect us to co-operate with the Police and have faith in these so called Law Enforcement forces in India?
Who gives them the right to even TOUCH US without any valid reason or proof? Are these people seriously the ones responsible for OUR SAFETY?
WE WILL NOT BE SUPPRESSED AND THIS NEEDS TO STOP. NOW.
#Shame

Comment #4:

Laws-

The Bangalore Metro Rail (Carriage and Ticket) Rules 2011 limit the weight of personal baggage to 15 kg. Rule 3 says: “No person shall, while travelling in metro railway, carry with him any goods other than a small baggage containing personal belongings not exceeding 60cm x 45cm x 25cm in size and 15kg in weight, except with the prior approval of the metro railway administration.” The rules also prohibit carrying explosive, inflammable, and poisonous substances.

The Metro Railway (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002, imposes fines and in some cases jail sentences for offences committed on the metro. Anyone indulging in sabotaging the train or maliciously hurting or attempting to hurt other passengers while travelling in the metro can face imprisonment up to 10 years. Pasting posters or drawing graffiti on the walls of stations or trains is punishable by a fine of ₹1,000 or imprisonment for up to 6 months. Travelling in an inebriated state or creating nuisance in the train is punishable by a ₹500 fine. Passengers are monitored at security checkpoints and those that are causing trouble, heavily drunk, or carrying forbidden items are not permitted to board. Spitting on the metro premises is punishable by a fine of ₹100.

Comment #5:

I hope you are innocent fight back and get back to work and train travel with your bicycle this time with any rule copy. If you are innocent nothing should stop you should fight back even if you dont have enough evidence . Expose them to society and put them to shame .believe your friends and family know your nature have confidence. We are all with you.

Reproduced here for Academic information.

Source : #Facebook #TheLogicalIndian

Freedom of Expression on Face Book and its Aftermath....

Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora on Tuesday slammed the police for “acting in haste” by arresting two young girls for their Facebook post questioning shutdown of the city for Bal Thackeray‘s funeral and called for checks to prevent misuse of the IT Act.

“Question isn’t about amending 66A of the IT (Information Technology) Act, it’s about preventing misuse by the police, who clearly acted in haste and applied wrong sections of IPC & IT Act,” Deora wrote on social networking Website Twitter.

Police had on November 18 arrested 21-year-old Shaheen Dhada under section 66A of IT Act and section 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) for posting a message on Facebook questioning the shutdown in the city for Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray’s funeral.

http://www.firstpost.com/india/milind-deora-criticises-cops-over-fb-post-case-529419.html

Firstpost said - It is hard to see how Shaheen Dhada violated the two sections of the law under which she has been charged – Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (“outraging religous feelings of any class”) or even the draconian Section 66A of the IT Act (“sending offensive messages through communication service, etc.”) – with her contemplative post, or what crimes Renu Srinivasan committed in merely ‘liking’ the post.

http://www.firstpost.com/politics/arrests-over-facebook-posts-why-were-on-a-dangerous-slide-528537.html

The message posted by Shaheen read: “With all respect, every day, thousands of people die, but still the world moves on. Just due to one politician died a natural death, everyone just goes bonkers. They should know, we are resilient by force, not by choice. When was the last time, did anyone showed some respect or even a two-minute silence for Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Azad, Sukhdev or any of the people because of whom we are free-living Indians? Respect is earned, given, and definitely not forced. Today, Mumbai shuts down due to fear, not due to respect.”

Now consider this - 

Mumbaites shutting down their shops and offices and sitting at home fearing violence is one thing, and more than 20 Lakh people actually marching in the funeral procession is another. 

Any political party cant bring 20 lakh people for a funeral procession, the economics is just not workable. So by that yardstick late Thackeray had earned public respect and support, and its but natural for his supporters to react or overreact when someone publishes a statement, even before the deceased's funeral pyre had not even stopped burning.
IPC Section 297 - Whoever, with the intention of wounding the feelings of any person, or.....with the knowledge that the feelings of any person are likely to be wounded,.... or offers any indignity to any human corpse, or causes disturbance to any persons assembled for the performance of funeral ceremonies,....

http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/indianpenalcode/s297.htm
The statement, which is the subject herein, is posted in the course of the funeral procession, and so section 297 IPC is applicable. And how would we expect the police to handle the situation, when the whole City is on its nerves; one wrong step and everything will fall down. We should admire how the situation in its totality was handled by the Mumbai Police. 

And again The Indian Constitution protects freedom of speech as a facet of fundamental rights under Article 19, subject to reasonable restrictions, including decency and defamation. What becomes critical therefore is balance: The fine equilibrium required between protecting freedom of speech, fair comment and criticism (including investigative journalism and whistleblower action) on the one hand and transgression into malicious defamation of a person for oblique or political purposes on the other.

IT Act 2002 Section 66A. Punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service, etc..- Any person who sends, by means of a computer resource or a communication device,-
(a) any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character; or
(b) any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, or ill will, persistently makes by making use of such computer resource or a communication device,
(c) any electronic mail or electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to mislead the addressee or recipient about the origin of such messages shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/validity-of-section-66a-of-it-act-challenged/article4116598.ece

In the case of Mr. Srinivasan he had tweeted that “karthick chidambaram had amassed more wealth than vadra” and the police arrested him on the basis of an e-mail complaint lodged by Mr. Karti.
The same IT act was used to arrest a person in Pondicherry who supposedly posted comments against Karthi Chidambaram. 
What was the media doing then ?

http://www.firstpost.com/india/it-act-should-not-be-used-to-throttle-dissent-says-sibal-528414.html

..... it is doubly perverse for Kapil Sibal to claim in all innocence that he is “deeply saddened” by the arrest of the two young women and to insinuate that the IT Act, which he was instrumental in passing, was being misused on grounds of improper implementation.
The fact of it is that the IT Act that he fathered, and particularly the notorious Section 66A, was deliberately worded to give maximum potential for mischief. There have been far too many egregious instances of its misuse by discredited governments and politicians for Sibal to claim that these are random incidents of misuse of the law. Just last month, Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s son Karti had a Puducherry businessmen and anti-corruption activist hauled up by the police for a Twitter post in which the businessman alleged that Karti had “amassed more wealth” than Sonia Gandhi‘s son-in-law. 

http://www.firstpost.com/politics/arrests-over-facebook-posts-why-were-on-a-dangerous-slide-528537.html
Now what's your take on this ??