Checkpoint police check the bid, not the bidder

The image of brave policemen has been ruined by a few among their ranks who take bribes from transporters.

PESHAWAR: Hundreds of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) police personnel have been killed and thousands injured in the ‘war against terror’. But, the image of such a brave police force has been stigmatised by a few among their ranks who take bribes from transporters, traveling from the tribal to the settled areas, to forego checks on their vehicles for explosives or suicide bombers.

Today, most of the country is a target of terrorism. Incidents of bomb blasts, suicide attacks, blowing up of railway tracks, electricity pylons and gas pipe lines have become routine.

K-P is the worst affected province in the ‘war against terror’, as a result of several operations aimed at the elimination of anti-state elements that were launched in both the region’s settled and tribal areas.

According to authorities such as Corps Commander Peshawar Asif Yasin Malik, most of the militants enter from Afghanistan, carry out their attacks and escape. To control the intrusion of these elements and keep an eye on suspects, the police were equipped with the latest weaponry and their numbers were increased on both entry and exit check-posts. However, after accepting bribes, the police do not even bother to check a single vehicle, regardless of what it may be carrying.

Express News and Express 24/7 managed to capture video footage of police taking bribe at the one of most important checkpoints in Karkhano area. The footage also shows the policemen involving children in accepting the bribes, giving them a minor share as a token for their “services”.

When informed by their subordinates about the footage, the higher authorities immediately suspended the police party and sent them to quarter-guard.

Moreover, the police parties act like gangs in the area. They routinely victimize and collect a “daily tax” from the Afghan shopkeepers at Karkhano market. A shopkeeper, who wished to remain anonymous, said that nobody bothered about it, as the police threatened to send to jail anyone who dared to resist their demands.

“I don’t know why these police would send us and the transporters to jail. They [police] even entertain their guest with free cold drinks that they take from us. Being an Afghani, I cannot refuse them as I know the consequences,” he said.

“They say they would put us behind bars and charge us as terrorists,” he added, explaining that he understood bribery to be a crime but did not see any other way out.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2011.