‘All policemen are not corrupt’

Minutes after an autorickshaw came to an abrupt halt on the busy stretch of Lakdikapul-Saifabad, a 50-year-old traffic head constable, who was regulating traffic in front of the Director General of Police (DGP)’s office, blew his whistle and said, “Gaadi ko aage lelo” (move the vehicle away).

The auto driver, however, called another auto and started hurriedly shifting three bags into it. The cop then called out to the autowallah once again telling him to clear the area.

One of the occupants of the auto then walked up to the cop and offered him a bribe to calm down for a while as they were shifting the material.

Smelling something fishy, the constable decided to see what the material was. As he opened one of the bags, he was left aghast. It was stuffed with currency bundles!

“When the person tried to bribe me, I thought they must be carrying something illegally. As I was checking it, the person fled. I found that the three bags were full of 1,000 rupee bundles,” recalled R Sanjeeva Reddy, the head constable attached to the Saifabad Traffic Police whose presence of mind led the police to a major catch of Rs 6.70 crore of unaccounted money on Wednesday.

The day after, however, it was business as usual for Sanjeeva Reddy who got busy with his traffic control duty at the DGP office.

“Sir, all policemen are not corrupt. Though I was offered a bribe, I refused to accept it. I warned them of taking the auto to the police station.”

When he asked them about the bags, the auto driver and the other person said they were carrying some valuable material for marriage purpose, he said.

After the duo fled, he handed over the three cash bags to the chief security officer of the DGP office while alerting his higher ups.

Minutes later, higher officials, including additional commissioner of police, Traffic, CV Anand who were in the DGP office came out and verified the contents of the bags much to their astonishment.

“Anand sir patted me and appreciated my work. It was a big day in my life,” Sanjeeva Reddy said with a sparkle in his eyes.

Sanjeeva Reddy joined the department in 1983 as a constable and worked in the Head Office, CAR, Law and Order wing in Asifnagar police station. He was promoted as head constable and transferred to the Saifabad traffic police station a few years ago.  Senior police are planning to reward Reddy for his outstanding job.