JOIN USHe fought bribe, but lost peace in life
Siddiqhi had complained to the Lokayukta against a sub-inspector who was demanding bribe from him. But little did he realise that he was in for a long struggle. For, trouble came in from not just the sub-inspector, but also from his successor and other cops as well.
Siddiqhi, first approached the Lokayukta in December, last year, when he found himself being harassed by KG Halli sub-inspector Ramakrishna Reddy for a bribe of Rs 50,000 in a civil dispute of one of his clients.
Not to be cowed down, he lodged a complaint and the sub-inspector was trapped by the Lokayukta police. He was arrested and was later suspended after a case was booked against him.
But the trouble had not ended for Siddiqhi, who found himself being harassed by Reddy’s successor Srinivas asking him to withdraw the complaint.
“They started harassing me constantly by sending people to my house and pressuring me to withdraw the complaint and come to a settlement. I had to change my phone number several times, but it did not make a difference as they would track me down somehow.” Fed up, he then changed his residence from Pillanna Garden to a residence in Bharathinagar. But in vain.
Threats
“They have threatened me several times that they would arrest me as a terrorist. They kept telling me that they knew how to manipulate the records, and how they could land me in serious trouble,” relates Siddiqhi.
Things came to a head, when a jewellery theft at Siddiqhi’s in-laws house was reported to the cops and they refused to work on the case, till Siddiqhi came to the station. “They took my fingerprints and said they would show that I was responsible for the theft of gold. The gold belonged to my wife and why would I steal my wife’s jewellery?” he said.
Siddiqhi was so depressed that he began to feel suicidal. “My business has suffered and I felt there was no one to support me. Everyone, including my parents, questioned me why I have got into this mess. But I was so disgusted by their behaviour. These officials are misusing their powers and something had to be done about it,” he firmly said.
Two days ago, Siddiqhi lodged another complaint with the Lokayukta police detailing the problems and threats he has faced both from the Bharathinagar and KG Halli sub-inspectors.
“Despite everything, I feel very confident about justice being done,” an unrelenting Siddiqhi said.