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Nagpur: Citizens may give ‘we-knew-it’ gesture but they would choose to only whisper and not shout about this rampant ill-doing by the police department. You may be surprised to know that police have formed a secret squad for recovering money from those found at guilt. Those at fault mainly include the vendors selling on footpath, rickshaws and all public transport vehicles, all goods transporting vehicles, private travels’ buses, vehicles transporting goods or people from rural to urban areas. Shockingly, all have a fixed amount which is recovered from them.
So messed up are some police personnel in this department that few officials of this department have appealed to the Police Commissioner and Home Minister to relieve them from this department.
It may be a harsh reality to accept for the Home Ministry but the existence of Extortion Recovery Squad is very much real!
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Monday 27 Jan. 2025
Some personnel of this Extortion Recovery Squad on condition of anonymity told Nagpur Today that Police Department has many department and many sub-departments. The “best-person for the job” concept is followed and people are deployed in various departments. If one sees from a police point of view, then the Extortion Recovery Squad is considered as one of the most important departments. Only those people who are involved in giving or accepting the extortion amount know about this Extortion Recovery Squad. Those who oppose this squad get punished according to the intensity of the crime committed. The offender could be a cop or even a normal citizen.
Normally the Extortion Recovery Squad of the Traffic Department is considered as the most peace-loving one. Most of the extortions are weekly or monthly payments.
Police writers – The connecting point!
In those police stations situated in the city limits, extortion amounts are recovered from all those who are involved in illicit business or those who are involved in criminal activities. The personnel of the Extortion Recovery Squad are said to be in contact with the writers of various police stations.
Nothing moves in the police station without receiving some extortion amount, be it a person who comes to the police station seeking permissions (positive or negative) or lodging complaints.
Organised nexus!
It could be mentioned here that Police Department has the onus of more than half a dozen of departments. The police department is held responsible for anything that goes wrong, which is why any person who gets trapped by the police department is not spared. Those persons who want to be allocated to the Extortion Recovery Squad have to pay a heavy price. The personnel of the Extortion Recovery Squad have to bear the scolding and abuses of those who pay the extortion amounts. This Extortion Recovery Squad is used only to recover small extortion amounts, while major amounts and big recoveries goes directly through external sources.
When faced with the poor image in the eyes of the society, these personnel of this Extortion Recovery Squad have appealed to the commissioner and home ministry to transfer them from this department. In order to improve the image of the police department and to acquire honour to the police personnel, this Extortion Recovery Squad should be done away with. If this Extortion Recovery Squad is not abolished or done away with, the trust of the masses on the cops will soon diminish.
– Rajeev Ranjan Kushwaha ( rajeev.nagpurtoday@gmail.com )
