Statistics from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) reveal that people’s perception of corruption within the Mumbai Police is not an unfounded one.
Data provided by the ACB for the current year till March shows that the highest number of graft cases, more than any other department, was registered against the police department. The total sum of bribes demanded is several notches higher in cases involving policemen than in cases involving any other government officers. However, the number of Revenue Department officials arrested in ACB cases is higher for the current year.
According to the statistics available, from January to March this year, 40 cases were registered against corrupt policemen were registered, leading to 47 arrests. The total amount of money demanded by the cops in three months is Rs72, 24,200 as compared to the Rs2,61,626 demanded by revenue department officials accused in graft cases in the same period.
In 2011, it was the Revenue department, which deals with land records and building transactions, that led the list of officials trapped in graft cases. During 2011, 89 cases were registered against policemen by the ACB while 99 cases against officials from the revenue department. In 2012, the police department led the list. During 2012, there were 127 cases of corruption registered against the policemen with a total of 167 arrests made. The trap amount (the amount asked as bribe) was Rs16, 83,750. The number of cases registered against the police department, 487, accounts for 25% of the total cases registered by the ACB in Mumbai in 2012.
Not only has the number of cases registered with the ACB against the police department increased rapidly, there has also been an increase in the sum asked as bribes.
Retired policeman Julio Rebeiro said “There is no fast track solution to this problem but if today itself the intervention of politicians is stopped into the functioning of the police department, you will see a 50% drop in corruption the following day.”
Rebeiro further said that during his tenure as the commissioner, around two decades ago, politicians would not be permitted to interfere in the functioning of the police department.
“Today, even a police constable is a part of the pipeline of corruption. Politicians are responsible for the appointment, transfer and promotion of policemen. There have to be reforms for the policemen and the interference of the politician has to be stopped completely.”
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