Once upon a time in a Police Station

25^th Feb 2011

Sector 9, Gurgaon

It’s been a week my car was stolen. And I am here again, in police station to get my copy of FIR. I reached police station at around 6:00PM after calling concerned person hundreds of time for it.

An Inspector was giving instructions to a group of people at the gate. Some of them had bandages over their heads and some were with broken plastered arms, few had bruise marks over the face. By their talks I understood, they had a fight over the farm waters. And after a big fight they came here for the compromise.

I got warm welcome from the SHO who was sitting in lawn under a Guava tree. He ordered for a chair to his fellow junior for me and I joined him with two of his colleagues. He then ordered a boy to bring my FIR from inside, and then asked him to get a photocopy of the same to keep it in records. He went out and I had to wait for him to return.

Meanwhile an old lady came to the police station. She was there because her son ran away with her neighbor’s daughter. From their chat I came to know that it was not the 1^st time that his son ran away with a girl and that too with the same girl. She was talking so comfortably with SHO about the incident like that it’s a routine for her.

“I can’t do anything…… They will come back after some time” SHO replied to her requests for some action.

“But the neighbors are threatening me of unfavorable consequences if their daughter doesn’t returns home…… From where can I bring them?” She said smilingly.

“Then what should I do? Last time also you brought them back…… This time also you can do that” SHO was stiff.

“They will break my head and you are saying you can’t do anything” She replied to his ‘can’t do anything’ attitude but the SHO was firm on his part that he won’t move from his chair.

She continued for some time and finally gave up and moved out with a smiling face, the way she entered. 

On the backdrop a police vala was shouting at a girl, a boy was accompanying her.

“Do your parents know this?”

“Sorry Sir, We were just coming back from our tuition” She replied with her eyes filled to the brims.

“Then what were you doing there……. Behind the railway track?” He was shouting aloud. May be he caught them in some compromising position from somewhere. I noticed that he has already slapped the boy. And now he was asking for their parent’s phone number.

I asked for where about’s of the boy who went for a photo copy of my FIR and SHO asked the same from his junior but nobody has any clue about that.

Meanwhile a lady came to SHO and started crying before saying anything. She told her story with more than needed tears. Her earlier landlord was threatening her. They had a doubt that she had stolen their jewelry while leaving for another home. And one can easily judge from her face that she was innocent. She wants SHO to send somebody with her to talk to her landlord. I was feeling pity for the poor lady but our SHO was still the same.

“We can’t go with everybody like this on such small complaints. Otherwise who will sit here, there is already a shortage of manpower. Go inside and give a written complaint. Write everything that you told in it” He ordered her to go inside without changing his instance.

At the backdrop that inspector was still shouting, but this time on that girl’s mother. “Can’t you control your children…… Don’t you know where they are going….. You people are responsible for all the shit happening around and then we have to take the blame if some thing wrong happens……. You can’t control a child then expect us to control whole of the city” He continued and the lady was just standing there with her head down.

After waiting for almost an hour at last that photocopy boy was back. And I thanked to SHO for the FIR and that entertainment before moving out. That girl and her mother was walking ahead of me while coming out, girl was walking 10 steps behind her mother to save herself from the burn. 

The police vala’s were still sitting there proudly. Don’t know for what? Either they did a great job in handing over my FIR copy, or listening to that ever smiling lady or not helping that poor Tenant or showcasing their power on a little girl and her mother.