Dimapur July 3(MExN): Commercial truckers and transporters have constantly been lucrative targets to extort money from, by unscrupulous element especially police personnel manning check gates as well as police stations . A transportation proprietor of Singh & Singh Cargo, a commercial carrier and transportation enterprise based in Dimapur, is the latest victim of money-hungry police personnel seeking to make quick money from transporters. Particulary if they see a Nagaland registration number, according to the truck-owner.
The proprietor, who refused to be identified for security reasons, was milked off an amount of Rs 35,000 approximately by police personnel manning check posts in the borders of Assam and Dimapur as well as by police officers manning stations, whom the transport proprietor had approached for redress and recovery of his hard-earned money. It may be mentioned here that not only truckers but students passing Assam into Nagaland have charged Assam Police personnel of extortion on too many an occasion in the recent years.
According to the truck proprietor, on June 8 one of his trucks was coming from Guwahati when police personnel at Khanapara Check Post stopped it for preliminary checking. The officer on duty then proceeded to demand an amount of Rs 50,000 from the truck driver. However after a lengthy “negotiation” the driver was allowed to proceed to Dimapur after paying an amount of Rs 15,000.
Again, on June 14, the enforcement inspectors of DTO identified as Jiten Gogoi and Ranjit Ch. Dutta, seized the same proprietor's truck and kidnapped the driver and demanded an amount of Rs 50,000. The officers threatened to book the driver under “some offence” and to this effect, set June 15 as deadline. Fortunately, the truck driver managed to escape the corrupt enforcement officers at around 8:00 pm on the same day and informed his owner of the matter. Thereon, the proprietor went down from Dimapur and contacted an Army friend of his who in turn directed the owner to approach SSP Metro Dispur. The SSP Metro after hearing of the case directed the truck-owner to a Sub-Inspector who was entrusted with enquiring into the matter. The SI took the truck proprietor to a magistrate under the Deputy Superintendent of Police Dispur. A team was then formed to raid the place.
The proprietor informed that the team reached Khanapara Check Post with marked currency notes. Unfortunately the culpable officers Jiten Gogoi and Ranjit Ch Dutta were not on duty that time. However, the officers’ subordinates recognized the owner and contacted one of the officers over telephone. “However the officer rudely replied that he was taking his afternoon nap and will resume his duty by 3:00pm only and directed to leave the amount there” the proprietor said. Left with no option but to wait, the team remained till 3:00pm.
However, the officer still did not turn up and instead commanded the truck-owner to reach the transport office. “So again we proceeded towards the transport office. On entering the office, the officer questioned me if I am the truck owner and told me to hand over Rs 50,000 in addition with the common threats from vehicle enforcement department of booking the vehicle truck under some offence” the truck-owner lamented.
He said that in spite of repeated appeals that he is a registered transport contractor with a fleet and that all vehicle tax, road tax, road tax etc have been paid, the corrupt officer insisted that the demanded money be paid. “So after a long and heated negotiation I managed to convince him to take Rs 20,000. As he started counting the marked currency notes, I gave a miss-call on my mobile to the Deputy SP and the raiding team came and arrested the official. To our utmost surprise the officer continued counting the marked currency cash even after the magistrate informed him that he was under arrest” he said. Minutes later when the officer realized what was happening, he tried to make a false vehicle seizure list, which the magistrate confiscated to be used as additional evidence against the corrupt official, he said
Both Jiten Gogoi and Ranjit Ch Dutta have been arrested. “We are being harrassed constantly by the Assam Police. They see the Nagaland registration number on my trucks and they always demand money” the truck owner later lamented.
