Sources said a gang of women thieves operating at the Thane station area is increasingly targeting, apparently well-to-do people walking out of the railway station and rob them of valuables and cash. According to information, these women after identifying their target deliberately bump into them and begin shouting for help. The police constables present nearby immediately approach them and start threatening the victim. In full view of the crowd that accumulates to witness the commotion, the policemen whisk away the victim and the woman concerned on the pretext of taking action against him for eve-teasing.
However, on their way to the police station, the constables start negotiating with the victim threatening him with police action followed by legal complications.
A terrified victim usually agrees to settle the matter by paying up. After ‘settling’ the matter, policemen and the lady return to the station in search of their next victim.
In an earlier piece, The Matunga Racket, I’d written about similar blackmail carried out by the police in the context of Section 377. But it isn’t only laws against victimless crimes that the police can exploit to harass people, but absolutely any law out there, as this report illustrates. It’s all a revenue stream.