18th August, 2022, we had this experience at the Telephone Exchange junction on L.B. Road, Chennai. My daughter who had come for 5 days had rented a car to take us to Mahabalipuram. At this particular junction, thanks to all the happy noise the family was making, she missed the red light, and we were stopped by the police. There were 3 of them. The older one walked up to the car, saw us, and my daughter, who immediately got out of the car, apologised to him. He told her to be careful and as she turned to get into the car, a second policeman very rudely spoke to her about having jumped the light. She apologised but he kept shouting at her, told her he would cancel her license, and then asked her for her ATM card. My daughter explained she was here just for 5 days and she was sorry this had happened but the man using his raw brute force kept talking to her very rudely enjoying the spectacle of her child crying and all of us stunned by this exchange. ATM card? Crime? The older policeman then told him to let her go. He told her to get into the car but he called another policeman who was standing there, whispered something to him and asked him to go with her to the car. At the car this third policeman who was carrying a portable cash machine asked her for Rs 1200/-. She took it out to give it to him and he asked her to hold it below the machine, which she did. The money was hidden from view. He then slipped the money into his pocket surreptitiously and went away. The strange thing was that none of the policemen were wearing name tags. I get that they had to stop my daughter for having jumped the light but I absolutely fail to understand the horribly rude tone of voice and words that were used, as if she was a criminal and this was a major criminal offense. I also could not understand why her ATM card was being asked for. It was a hideous playback of the Raj days when the natives were bullied by native policemen.
I decided to go on the Net to find out what the responsibilities of police should be. And in this link - https://lawtimesjournal.in/who-is-police-what-are-powers-duties-of-police/ I found these statements:
Every police officer shall behave with the members of the public with due courtesy and decorum, particularly so in dealing with senior citizens, women, and children.
The police should always be courteous and well mannered.
Integrity of the highest order is the fundamental basis of the prestige of the police.
My family has always admired Tamil Nadu-the culture and ethos. This was a rude awakening to the grim reality of corruption and rudeness among those who are meant to protect the people.