Lady constable arrested for accepting bribes from hawkers

A lady police constable who allegedly demanded and accepted a monthly bribe from women hawkers was arrested by the Thane unit of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) late last evening, an official release said.
According to Superintendent of Police (ACB) Sandeep Karnik of the Thane unit, Government Railway Police (GRP) lady constable Vidyulata P Baramatikar, attached to its Thane unit, used to demand a bribe from female hawkers operating in and around the Thane railway station and on suburban local trains, the release said.
Allegedly, she used to extort a sum of Rs 100 per month from each of the women hawkers who sold cutlery articles on local trains.

She hiked her bribe amount to Rs 250 per month from each hawker and if they failed to pay her the bribe, she used to allegedly file false cases against them, the release said.
Women hawkers were also allegedly threatened of dire consequences by the lady constable that if she registered an offence against them and they would have to be produced in court, they would have to pay a fine of Rs 1200.
However, women hawkers lodged a complaint with the Thane unit of the ACB, which laid a trap at the Diva railway station at last evening and arrested the lady police constable while accepting a bribe amount of Rs 250 from three hawkers each and Rs 300 from another hawker, totalled at Rs 1050.

The Thane unit of the ACB lauded the initiative taken by women hawkers to lodge a complaint against the police constable who had extorted them, the release said.
A group of women hawkers who took the lead in lodging the complaint with the ACB were also honoured today at the ACB headquarters here and appreciation letters were given to each one of them, the ACB release said.