The onset of justice, only an illusion!

Hi!

Lot of you helped me in the process of getting justice but may be disappointed with what's out in the Times of India article today. Here is my side of the story. You can read it in continuation of my previous posts here.

On Wednesday (Oct 5), I received a call from Dy SP Krishnappa who told me that they had received my complaint through the DIG Railways (N Shivkumar). I was asked to come in. I left office immediately along with a colleague (Sanjay Pathak) and reached his office before noon. The Superintendent of Police (Railways) and the DSP asked me to explain the entire incident, which I did.

They then took me to Sr. DCM Gagarin's cabin who was present along with DCM Anwar Hussain. They weren't aware that I had been asked to come there and hence questioned me as to why I had come there. The presence of the electronic media seemed to disturb them. I was told that there would be an identification parade followed by a confronted enquiry, after which appropriate action would happen.

Thereafter, DSP Krishnappa asked me to break for lunch and see him at his office. I did so. He along with two sub-inspectors then took me to the Platform and asked me to show them the different locations I was taken to during the episode.

After this they formally lodged an FIR at the Chief Inspector of Police's office on Paltform 6. I was told that the FIR would be followed up by Inspector Mallesh.

They also asked me to wait while they would document the crime scene in a report format. It took three and a half hours for the same to be scripted in a local language, and finally at 8:30 PM I left for home. On returning home, I received news from the electronic media that 6 officials had been suspended.

On Thursday (October 6), I was called for the Identification Parade at 3 PM. I was accompanied by Sanjay and my organization's HR manager, Indraneel. During the parade, I identified the TCs who had manhandled me - Mr. Venkatesh, Mr. Nagaraj and Mr. Shivanna. I also identified 4 RPSF staff - Head Constable T K Mani, Constables - Jagjivan Ram, Meena, V V Pandey. They themselves clarified that there was an RPF staff by the name of Umesh who was also present. Each of them was asked to submit a statement. While the identified TCs submitted their statements an hour and a half later, the RPSF guys said they would do so the next day. DCM Anwar Hussain told me that the guys who had been identified were the ones who had been suspended and that the identification process was to cross-check. Finally, the process ended at 8:15 PM after which I returned home. I was asked to be present the next day at 11:00 AM again.

On Friday (October 7), the enquiry process started at 11:00 AM as scheduled. The enquiry was being conducted by DCM Anwar Hussain. I reached the location with my colleague again. First, the RPSF staff were called in one by one and questioned. All of them had a common written statement which said that neither did I misbehave nor did they touch me on September 30. Each of them said that they had nothing to add in person apart from this. All the written statements were of the same handwriting. At the end of their enquiry, each of them met me outside the DCM cabin and expressed regret at what had happened. They were extremely friendly, and asked me to put an end to the case as they had already received a suspension.

Then, the TCs were called in. Obviously, their story was different. They claimed that I had not given a PF ticket, manhandled them thereafter and then I had beaten the RPSF staff. All of them said that they didn't see me being beaten up by the RPSF.
Hearing a bunch of lies repeatedly was frustrating but then they were never going to speaking the truth in any case. A few independent witnesses were called in - one from KSTDC office on Platform 1 who said that he didn't see a thing but had seen a crowd collecting nearby. The cloak room chaps were then called in and they claimed that they didn't see a thing as well. Just before the day would end, there was an employee of Satkar restaurant who personally had called the DCM and said that he was present at the scene. He said that he saw me having a squabble with the TC while he had come to the Nandini shop to buy curd. However, after the TCs took me inside the cabin, he didn't know what happened. The enquiry ended at 9 PM.

On Saturday (October 8), I was called in again at 11 AM. I deposed before DCM Anwar. Having troubled my friedns enough, I went in alone. During the enquiry, DCM Anwar cross-checked the purchase of my PF ticket by placing a call to my fiancee while the enquiry was on. I had also pointed out that while dropping my fiancee and her mother, there was a chap who had come to drop a couple in the adjacent seats, and that chap could be traced and called because he had seen me giving the PF ticket to the TC. DCM Anwar told me that was not required as he had already found the accused guilty through contradictions in their statement. He then asked me to accompany him to the crime scenes. Thereafter, he asked me to show him my bank account details to confirm withdrawal of money. I did that too. We even traveled to the ATM inside Majestic to check whether the first claimed withdrawal of money matched. And it did. The enquiry then ended at 5:30 PM.

Throughout the enquiry process, DCM Anwar had been extremely supportive in his mannerisms and on my part I kept my commitment of not speaking to talk to the media. He told me that while it was quite a ordeal to come in every day, he was happy that I hadn't left things midway. While leaving, he told me that strict action would be taken in 4 days and he would call me personally and inform me about it.

Later that night at 9:30 PM, I received a call from DCM Anwar asking me to come in again as they had achieved some kind of breakthrough. On reaching the location, I found that they had nabbed the fraudster V Srinivas. He was found at the platform again by one of the RPSF constables who was present on that day. After I identified him I was asked to go to the police office in case any questioning was required. Everyone seemed to be extremely happy at the arrest of the fraud chap and the police told me that I should come again the next morning at 10:00 AM for further police enquiry. While leaving, the RPSF guys and TCs personally met me and told me that they were sorry for their action. They told me that the fact that they themselves hunted down the fraudster was testimony of them wanting to make amends. In fact some of the RPSF guys and one of the TCs (Nagaraj) even hugged me. I too was extremely happy that the case was being handled so well.

I returned home at midnight. I narrated the developments to my roommate Amit. After a small discussion, both of us were of the opinion that the truth had prevailed. I felt good about myself that my efforts had born fruit. I updated my dad about the entire episode. He told me that if the TCs and RPSF guys who had abused me the other day were now sorry for their actions, then that I had done my duty. The strong fight back and the strong forgive, while the weak do neither. After this bit of conversation I too felt that if I talked to all of them once and if they were committed towards being better humans now, then that would be a much better outcome than damage being caused to their career.

Later, I sent an SMS to the DCM saying that after all the prompt enquiry and action, my anger/frustration against the railways had finally vanished. He replied saying that my anger was misplaced. I told him that despite what had happened I would like to meet the the TCs and RPSF staff and talk to them once. He said he would arrange for the same.

The next day, Sunday (October 9), I reached Inspector Mallesh's office along with my roommate Amit. They needed my statement again and the process took a couple of hours. Again, RPSF staff member V V Pandey and T K Mani came and talked to me like I was their younger brother. It made me feel good.

Then on Monday (October 10), DCM Anwar called me in continuation of the previous SMS exchange. I told him that from their behaviour I felt that they were sorry about what had happened. He told me that they were indeed sorry and asked me to come down to his office and talk to him in person. Inspector Mallesh had also called me in separately. So after finishing office at 6:30 PM, I went down to meet DCM Anwar. As always, he was extremely supportive. He had been receiving several calls asking for an update on the case. I expressed my frame of mind to him. He said that if I withdrew the complaint, he affirmed my belief about it being a proactive contribution towards making Southern Railways a better organization. Thereafter, I wrote a letter which said that the accused railway officials are indeed sorry for what happened and they are now committed to being better people, and hence I wouldn't like any further damage being caused to them. Hence, I was withdrawing my complaint. DCM Anwar and I then shared a conversation over a cup of tea.

The same message was communicated across to Inspector Mallesh. He too reaffirmed my faith in the system and was pleasantly surprised at my step. He too shared a glass of flavored milk at the station after which I left.

I thought everything was over and done with as far as the railway chaps were concerned till today's article in the Times of India, wherein the DRM Mahesh Kumar has manipulated my words. The article which has quoted him claims that I withdrew the complaint because the enquiry found me at fault on several fronts. God dammit, if that is the case, then please convict me.

On reading the article I immediately sent a message to DCM Anwar with a word of thanks for such a nice way of thanking me. As expected, there was no response.

I thought that what I had done was an act of good faith. But it's been rehashed very conveniently. May God bless them all!

For those who have been with me through this, even if it's about just reading this post - A big thank you for your contribution. I am overwhelmed by the support. I apologise again for the inability to communicate on a regular basis.

Time to move ahead with the better things that life has to offer. Injustice can indeed be poetic!

The Storm...

October 5 (Wed): Both, Deccan Herald and Times of India, carried prominent articles highlighting the brutalities that I suffered at Bangalore Railway Station. I am sure that the print media's prompt response forced the issue on the concerned officials, even if they claim otherwise.

I reached my office at 10 AM. While the phones had started ringing again, I wasn't able to receive them as I had a lot of catching up to do at office. By 11 AM, the NDTV and Zee correspondents had reached office. Just as I went down to meet them, DSP Krishnappa called me up and asked for my presence at Majestic Railway Station to kick off the enquiry process.

October 4 (Tue): The mail seems to have spread like wild fire. Even before I'd opened my eyes, I started receiving calls and messages on both my numbers - some to authenticate the email, some to pledge support, some to get more details, some with pointers, some with leads in the media, some with leads in the railways and some with leads in the police. Also, these calls came from geographies spanning the entire nation - from Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Baroda, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Delhi, Gurgaon, Hubli, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai, Noida, Trivandrum. There were at least two dozen calls from Sri Lanka, Russia, UK and US. While I tried my best to attend each call made, I did lose out a few in the process.

Inspired by the support, I left for the DIG Shivkumar's office at Cauvery Bhavan with great enthusiasm. Having reached his office at 11 AM, I was made to wait till 1 PM till he came to office. In the meanwhile the calls kept coming in. DIG Shivkumar was accompanied by the Superintendent of Police (SP) Sreenivas. They called me in and heard me out. I was asked to submit my complaint in a particular format with a paragraph explaining the delay.

Taking permission, I went hunting for a cyber cafe to Avenue Road nearby. Since there was only one in the area, I got a terminal after 15 odd minutes. I framed the complaint in the desired format and with the desired additions and returned to the DIG's office at 2:30 PM.

Well, I wasn't surprised to find that he had left for the day and the complaint along with my wound proofs had to be handed over to his PA. Despite such indifference, I am supposed to believe officials when they tell me that the case will be treated with utmost seriousness. And just like the DIG and SP ran out of office, both my phones which had been ringing incessantly ran out of battery.

So I left Cauvery Bhavan, collected a new pair of spectacles, had lunch and got home by 4:30 PM. While I started charging the phones, I switched them on, and the calls continued to pour in. However, by now, most of the calls were action-oriented. These included calls from different sections of the media, senior faculty from leading educational institutions, corporate leaders, senior IPS and IAS officers, youth wing members of political organizations and railway officials from within and outside Bangalore.

I never realized that the simple effort of putting together a mail would yield such a brilliant response. Both, Deccan Herald and Times of India invited me to their office that evening. Members from Aaj Tak, NDTV, STAR, Tehelka, Times NOW and Zee spoke to me. I wasn't able to establish communication with several other media groups who'd been trying to take up this cause. It was only later that I saw messages from their representatives.

Also, it was only towards the end of the day, that I could check my mails. Sorry for not being to update at that point of time.

October 3 (Mon): As soon as I sent out the mail at 10 PM, I received a few replies, calls and messages supporting my cause that same night.

What had I been up to before the email? The Calm!

October 3 (Mon) - I reached office at 9:30 AM and typed out my entire compaint. Indraneel (HR manager at my organization) and I left office at 10:30 AM, to meet the DIG (Railways) as per his appointment. To our surprise, we did not find a single person at Cauvery Bhavan who could direct us to the DIG's office. Cauvery Bhavan consists of several buildings and we had to hunt from one to the other till we reached the right place. All we found there was a huge lock on every door. Incidentally, DIG Shivkumar had given me an appointment on a day which was a government holiday. And why should he have the courtesy to inform me about the same? After all we are fools to run from one place to the other. We were back in office by 2 PM. I got out of office by 6:30 PM and tried to contact ACP Uday Shankar and tell him what happened. He was available over the phone only at 8:30 PM. He asked me to go back to Cauvery Bhavan the next day at the same time.

The feeling of frustration was creeping in and later at night I decided to ask for help from all the people I knew. This took the shape of an email which captured the entire incident. The email was sent out to my alumni groups - IIML as well as ITBHU. I also passed on the same to some of my friends and on the Ryze Bangalore Business Network.

October 2 (Sun) - I took the advice of my relatives in Bangalore and reached the Commissioner's office just before noon. The official at the reception asked me what my complaint was all about. He told me that my case would not be registered with the state police as it pertained to the railways. But I was in no mood to go back without some progress. I walked up to the grievance cell nearby but I just found a lock. Then I met the commissioner's PA and narrated the incident to him. He reiterated that the matter would not fall under the commissioner's jurisdiction. On further insistence, I was directed to ACP Uday Shankar's office at the control room. ACP Uday Shankar heard out the entire incident. He also saw the abrasions on my face and the bruises on my body. He referred the same to the DIG Railways, N Shivkumar, over telephone in my presence. Mr N Shivkumar gave me an appointment for Monday 11:30 AM at Cauvery Bhavan. On leaving the ACP's office I was joined by a friend Vishal. He accompanied me to Bowring Hospital for a government-recognised wound certificate. I was told that this was crucial to initiate any kind of legal proceeding. After seeing the injuries, the CMO at Bowring handed me a wound certificate that clearly proves the kind of brutal physical abuse I have mentioned. I also had to get a wrist x-ray done and it was late evening by the time I returned home.

October 1 (Sat) - At my organization we work on Saturdays, and I returned home only at 5 PM. Thereafter, I talked to my parents, relatives, friends and colleagues about the incident. I was advised to go directly to the Commissioner of Police, Ajay Kumar Singh, since he is known to take prompt action to all civilian complaints.

September 30 (Fri) - After this entire incident, I went to my friend Prakash's house in Domlur at 10 PM. After treating the wounds, Prakash and his brother Subhash accompanied me back to the station, thinking that we would identify some of the culprits and note down their names. We must have reached there by 11:40 PM but there was noone to be found. After returning, I slept off.

The Email: Brutalities in Bangalore

Hi!

I would like to bring to notice a certain injustice that I have subjected to at the Bangalore Railway Station (Majestic). On September 30 (Friday), 2005, I had been to the station to see off my fiance and her mother. They took the Karnataka Express (Train #2627) to Jhansi at 6:30 pm.

On my way out I was asked to present my platform ticket by a railway official. On producing the same, the TT turned around and told me "What if I say that you haven't given me the ticket?" Before I could react, he along with his colleague pushed me into the adjacent enquiry cabin and physically manhandled me. I was slapped several times, my spectacles were grabbed and deliberately crushed by foot, and my phone was flung away from me. The RPF comprising of one sub-inspector/inspector and four constables, appeared on the scene. The surrounding public was whisked away. None of the railway police officials cared to listen to me and they started hitting me indiscriminately with lathis. They dragged me out, and all the 4 constables continued hitting me with lathis from Platform 1 to Platform 3/5, till we reached the station master's cabin. Racist abuses and threats were made on the way. At the station master's cabin, I was told that I have been charged with a non-bailable offence and would be behind bars for 15 days.

Not for a single moment was I allowed to speak. All of a sudden a stranger came to the scene and he claimed that he was there to help me. Having lost all my physical strength and mental senses, I was happy to see some sort of help. He, claiming to be V Srinivas from Infosys, talked to the officials and the railway police in Kannada. He told me that the only way I was to get out was if I was willing to pay my way through. Being in no state to make a rational choice, I gave him my ATM card and pin. He took one of the RPF chaps along with him and said he would clear the matter. He returned some time later saying that everything was okay now.

I was asked to sign a statement which said that I hit the police and TT in a drunken state. I refused. Finally, they pressurized me to write that I did not produce a platform ticket when asked. I wrote the same and then V Srinivas took me out of the station. He joined me in an auto and took me to the ICICI ATM at Anand Rao circle. He withdrew Rs. 15000 from my ATM and got back. He took the cash under the pretext that while helping me he had left his wallet in the train he had left behind and that he would return the same through his ICICI Internet account. Having broken down mentally I did not realise that I was being cheated. He then took me to a Samsung showroom and tried purchasing a cellphone worth Rs. 18500 with my card. It was only then that I realised what was happening. I grabbed my card back, caught him by the collar, snatched my cash that lay in his pocket, and got into a running auto.

I have now realized that all of this was a plan. There is a strong nexus between the railway officials, the railway police and the fraudster. The railway officials identify a victim who they think is well-to-do, the RPF beat that individual till he has no physical or mental well-being. Then this fraud chap comes on to the scene, takes advantage of the situation, and takes all your cash away. Also, this series of events generally occurs on the last day of the month as they know that the salary gets credited on this day. (This strikes me now because the self-proclaimed Infy employee, V Srinivas, clearly asked me whether I had received my salary. He said that he just wanted to find out if there was cash enough to tackle the case.)

Now three days hence, I have tried to run from pillar to post. I have been forced to miss office hours in my effort to get justice. But I don't want to give up the fight midway. If any of you are in the media, or have friends/relatives who are in the industry, I'd like to speak with them about this in greater detail. I can be reached on XXXXXXXXXXX. I believe it would catalyze my efforts.

Also, please pass this email to all the people who reside in Bangalore, so that they don't fall into the same trap.

Regards,
Nimish V Adani
Business Development Manager, Izmo Cars (a division of Logix Microsystems)
IIML Batch of 2003
ITBHU Batch of 2001