Yamini C S | Edited by Chandrashekar Srinivasan
A youth from Himachal Pradesh has accused Bengaluru police of extortion and harassment in a viral Twitter thread, prompting authorities to launch an enquiry. Vaibhav Patil, a native of Himachal Pradesh, had moved to Bengaluru six months ago. The incident happened as he was returning home after working a night shift at a private firm, The Indian Express reported.
Patil alleged that two police officers stopped him in the road at around 4 am on Wednesday and questioned him, to which he cooperated. The officers began searching his bag and “planted” a packet of marijuana in it, which they used to extorted money from him, Patil claimed.
Threatening to file a narcotics case on him, the officers allegedly pushed him to admit that he consumed ganja, saying that his arrest would win both of them a reward of ₹15,000 each. Patil was let go after he handed over the ₹2,500 he had on him, the report added.
“Hi, I am Vaibhav Patil from Himachal Pradesh and since the day I landed in Bangalore about 6 months ago, I have faced nothing but discrimination,” Patil’s tweet read.
Responding to his now deleted tweets, DCP C K Baba said, “Dear Vaibhav. We understand that you are worried and scared. Request you to DM your details and meet me at my office ASAP, and be assured that we will initiate action.. You can reach me.”
The DCP told Hindustan Times that the police were able to reach him and that an enquiry is on-going.
