File an FIR? Rs 100, please

An assistant sub-inspector at Mahadevapura police station demanded Rs 100 to register an FIR, a day after the state police chief called upon his staff to be more people-friendly.Santosh (name changed on request) went to lodge a complaint on Sunday but ASI Dayanand demanded Rs 100 to do so. When Santosh wanted to know the reason, Dayanand smiled and said, For chai-paani (tea coffee). I do not know what to say and had no time to argue since I was exhausted running from one station to another to get my complaint registered, he said, adding that he had no choice but to pay up.u00a0Apart from me, a few other people present at the station also paid the cop to get their complaint registered, says Santosh.Strict actionJoint commissioner of police Alok Kumar said, Every police station gets Rs 15,000 per month for stationery. We have done this to prevent them from harassing complainants and taking money from them.He promised to take stringent action against the offenders. Ironically, director general and inspector general of police Ajai Kumar Singh has asked the state police to improve their relationship with the public. He has also directed policemen to register complaints without delay and senior police officers including SPs and DCPs and commissioner-level officers to meet people even if they didn't have appointments.