Having heard rave reviews from her friends and associates, tennis superstar Sania Mirza was at Agara Lake this morning. Posing with her father at the water body, she has put up her photo on social media saying, “When you drag your dad for a walk/run and he shows up like he’s going to office feet upwards”.
Having delivered a baby after a painful C-section more than a year ago, Sania has embraced parenthood and has penned Ace Against Odds, the paperback version of which was released only last week. Her father Imran Mirza is also her coach, guide and mentor who shaped her career spanning 23 years.
Under-reporting of minor crimes is well-known in the police department for decades and this trend continues. We have come across cases where the HSR cops refuse to file FIRs (First Information Reports) related to mobile snatching, chain snatching and petty thefts. We are not sure how many grievous offences are swept under the carpet, but we will assume that most of those offences are being reported. Taking this into account, here goes a breakdown of the number of criminal and traffic offences recorded by the HSR police in 2018.
It is sad to note that for the past one week, not a single offence was recorded by the traffic police. Either they were on holiday mood or quite sympathetic to traffic violators. Or it’s just a simple police complaint that does not require an FIR which mandates the court’s intervention. To avoid this lengthy and time-consuming procedure, the cops avoid filing FIRs for petty offences, so they have more time for major offences. Fair enough. And in cases, where major thefts were committed due to the irresponsibility of the victim, such complaints are also not taken too seriously.
HSR Layout recorded 432 criminal complaints (FIRs) in 2018. That is an average of 36 FIRs every month or a little more than one case every day. On the other hand, the traffic police recorded 116 offences on the road, which is about 10 violations a month or one violation every three days. We dispute these figures for the reason stated above. They are not realistic as most police complaints that are not filed in the First Information Reports don’t make it in this statistic. Clearly, if those are included, the numbers will be far higher.
In the last four months since we began this news channel on HSR Layout, we have seen most complaints to do with two wheeler thefts, missing persons, and cheating firms. The cases that are not so frequent include car thefts, dowry harassment, sexual harassment, and financial frauds. There were no rapes or murders since September 2018. However rare they may be, but road accidents leading to the person’s death have occurred on Outer Ring Road near HSR and 27th Main Road. A BMTC bus was behind the killing of a 75-year-old citizen crossing Iblur junction by foot. A water tanker was behind the death of a young working professional riding a bike on 27th Main Road. There have been some road rage and domestic fights, but nothing that can cause an alarm. Overall, HSR is a mixed bag of serious and petty crimes.
Spread over 98 acres, the recently-revived Agara Lake has also become the hub of youngsters who frequent the place and indulge in drugs and public display of affection. The families and children that visit the park are visibly embarassed and have complained to the park authorities. This has prompted the cops to take action on such errant couples misusing a public space. However, the youngsters are not happy with this intrusion. In addition, there have been cases of chain snatching and usage of drugs.
Complains one such disgruntled person going by the Twitter handle ‘Bandit Biker’: “Why are police officers harassing couples, families and friends alike sitting on the lakeside at Agara lake? This isn’t the first time. What point are you trying to put across? I think the public is entitled to use the park without officers bullying people around including kids.”
The park caretakers respond to this by saying, “No moral policing, there are many who indulge is public nuisance and when kids are around, one needs to create a safe space, it does come with general restrictions! There has been serious police cases of late and in the interest of larger public safety, cops are doing their rounds,” says Kavitha Reddy of the Agara Lake Protection & Management Society. “Don’t agree with allegations that the police is harassing families and kids. Yes, there has been huge public nuisance by couples which visitors themselves have complained to the authorities. Last evening, a few were caught doing an illegal act. Public spaces have to be safe and some strict action has to be taken by the police!”
DRUGS, SEX & CRIME
The park caretakers have told us that couples have been caught making out inside the park premises. In addition, they have been seen taking drugs. A couple of chain snatching incidents have also occurred inside the lake premises. While one thief was caught, the other escaped due to an alert woman.
The presence of cops has now become a must due to all these incidents. This is also one of the reasons why the park is closed during the afternoons. The lung space and the caretakers also require some breathing space before the crowds come in the evenings.
“On the night of December 31, people were caught drinking alcohol,” says Reddy. “We had to call the cops and have them removed from the place. The next day morning, our security men saw a couple having sex behind the bushes, closer to the lake.”
The park caretakers are fed up of this nuisance. Condoms are found all over and couples are seen fondling each other in front of families and kids. The visibility factor is quite high compared to Lalbagh or Cubbon Park. Due to pruning of the grass, the snakes are out in the open. Therefore, the visitors are being told not to sit on the lawns, particularly when they have kids with them.
112 unresolved BBMP complaints; some are over a year old!Posted: Jan 1 at 12:32 pmThere are 112 BBMP complaints that remain unresolved, with some grouses that are almost a year old. Such is the callousness with which the civic body functions in HSR Layout. The latest list of grouses have to do with flooding, footpath encroachments and drainage issues.
FOOTPATH ENCROACHMENT
This complaint was filed more than a year ago, on November 1, 2017. According to the GPMS Online Complaint Monitoring System, this complaint (BBMP-GPMS/CMT-19329) is yet to be resolved. Says the complainant: “The foot path at junction of 14th B Cross and 9th main, adjacent to the HSR 6th sector BBMP office has been encroached by two petty shops which are also selling cigarettes in loose. This junction is hardly 30 meters from Lawrence School which further emphasises the gravity of the problem. The BBMP seems to have turned a blind eye to this nuisance which has been going on for a couple of months now. These encroachments must be cleared immediately.” On closer examination, we realise that this was not the first complaint. A similar complaint was lodged on October 31, 2017 (BBMP-GPMS/CMT-19328).
FALLING OBJECTS FROM AGARA FLYOVER
Col. RN Ghosh (retd) complained about a curiuos incident on October 23, 2018. “At about 21 Oct 17 at around 4:39PM, one falling object from the flyover near Agara exit (12.923909°N 77.653404°E) on the 27th Main Ring Road Junction damaged my car Nexa S Cross KA03NA3680,” he said in his complaint to the BBMP. “It is requested that the flyover be inspected thoroughly for similar falling objects, failing which there may even be a serious accident if it falls on any person, even with a helmet. As soon as I got on the divider between the flyover exit and the Ring Road, I took photos. The glass pieces kept falling apart thereafter as I drove home. Being a Saturday, no one picked up the call from BBMP numbers as well as your numbers iven in the policy. Look forward to your assistance for detailed repairs to prevent future re occurrence.”
DRAINAGE ISSUE
This resident complained (BBMP-GPMS/CMT-23273) about a drain issue on December 16, 2018. “The drainage in front of #1374, 25th B-Cross, 25th Main, 2-sector is blocked and overflowing all through the street, spreading the foul smell all around. Please assign the concerned team and get it resolved at the earliest. It has been more than two weeks, and the BBMP is yet to fix this issue.
REPEAT COMPLAINTS
We have also noticed that there are many duplicate complaints by the residents. Not realising that their online complaint is already registered, they file their grouse again. Therefore, the total number of complaints without these duplicate entries might come down to one-third too. However, the BBMP should be able to detect such duplicate complaints and merge them into one. What is Artificial Intelligence for?
While it is true that some of the power disruptions are due to the ongoing cabling work that will make Bescom lines insulated from rains and short circuits, there are several other issues that the electric company needs to sort out fast. To begin with, there are voltage fluctuations galore, that have damaged home alliances and electronic goods worth thousands in offices and houses in HSR Layout.
Sector 4 resident Geetha Pitchai sums up the long list of excuses that the Bescom gives its consumers: “Everytime we raise a complaint, the BESCOM staff will say that the outages are due to the various faults 1) Incoming Supply Failure. 2) Feeder Broke Down. 3) Cable Fault. 4) HSR Substation under Repair. 5) Bird fell onto the Transformer and due to an Explosion, the Supply was disabled. 6) Regular Repairs & Maintenance is on-going. 7) Tree Trimming Exercise is being done…..& many more. In many countries, if there is a power outage, a certain rate is applied against the ‘down-time’ and the corresponding rebate is offered as a discount.”
In Teacher’s Colony, the excuse is new, though. “This problem (frequent power cuts) can be solved after commission of new power sub station at Jakkasandra,” says Jagadeesh, AEE-Bescom.
The rot is within. Says long-time resident Ranga Rao: “About the time HSR was developing and when the KEB splitting process was taking place, third grade materials like transformer and cables were widely used and inflated bills were paid. I got this information from a former KEB employee who is unfortunately no more.”
Says another resident Shyam SM about the frequent voltage fluctuations: “My co brother retired from BESCOM a long time ago. He says it’s a distribution equipment problem, mainly the transformer. Unless strongly taken up, Bescom will not care. I have complained to the number available on the Bescom site. Look at the funniest side. He says, “Call when low or high voltage occurs. Have told him we cannot predict.”
A thirty-year-old software engineer and a resident of HSR Layout, Sector 7, has alleged that she was threatened with life by her inlaws if she does not pay more dowry in addition to the Rs 5 lakh jewellery and Rs 2 lakh given to the groom during marriage.
The police complaint lodged on December 23 alleges that the victim was pressured by her inlaws between January 2018 and July 2018 before she was thrown out of her husband’s house in BTM Layout. Since then, she has been staying with her parents in HSR Layout.
According to the FIR, the accused demanded Rs 50 lakh cash, Rs 5 lakh gold jewellery and Rs 2 lakh towards wedding expenses for the groom. On December 30, 2017, the victim was married off to software engineer Yunus Pasha at a well-known wedding hall on Haines Road.
After marriage, the victim alleges that the accused gave her physical and mental torture over not meeting their dowry demands. On July 31, 2018, the complaint alleges that the accused mouthed expletives and hit her with their hands and even threatened to poison her and threw her out of the house. The accused are alleged to have kept her jewellery and not returned the Rs 1 lakh given to them by the victim’s parents.
Speaking to Residents Watch, the victim said, “When I looked at his phone one night, I found that he was having an affair. When I asked him about it, he confessed that he was indeed going to remarry. Then why did he marry me and spoil my life? It’s clear that he married me for the money and the regular income I earn every month.”
The estranged couple does not have a child yet, but the victim says that her life is ruined because of Younus now. “He is having an extramarital affair and wants to marry her in the next two months, so now he wants a divorce from me.”
The other accused in the FIR are Mehaboob Pasha (65 years), Gulnaaz (60), Yasmeen (30), and Nazneen (28). The cops have lodged several allegations against the accused, including one under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, and five cases under Indian Penal Code 1860.
Four FIRs were lodged in the last few days in HSR Layout. Besides the dowry harassment case mentioned in a separate story today, there has been a bike theft case in Sector 3, a house robbery in Sector 7 when people were not at home, and a cheating case worth over Rs 3 lakh in Sector 2.
ROBBED WHEN OUT OF TOWN
Between 21 and 23 December, the house belonging to 52-year-old Surendra Hegdein Sector 7 was broken into. The victim was staying on 8th B Main, 21st Cross. On December 21, he locked his home at 1230pm and went to his native place. When he returned at 6.30am on December 23, the front door was broken open and several valuables were allegedly stolen. According to the FIR, thieves stole a 42-inch Samsung TV, two laptops (15-inch Macbook & a Lenovo), 160 grams of gold jewellery, 3.5 kilos of silver items and Rs 33,500 cash. The HSR cops have registered a case of robbery and criminal trespassing.
BIKE THEFT
Thirty-five-year-old Kishor Kumar parked his Bajaj Pulsar 150cc bike (DL8S AC5522) inside his building premises on 17th Main, 22nd Cross, Sector 3 on November 28 at 10pm. The next day, it was gone when he checked at 9am. He searched everywhere and finally realised that the bike was stolen and lodged a complaint. What is interesting here is that the FIR was lodged by the police almost a month later on December 23, 2018,
CHEATING CASE
A case of cheating is lodged against Zubha Infra Developers in Bommanahalli by businesman Satish Kumar of Sree Krishna Steel and Cement in Sector 2, HSR Layout. According to the FIR, Kumar’s firm had given the accused Rs 3.28 lakh worth steel equipment on December 14, 2018. However, when the money was never given even after more than a week, an FIR was lodged on December 25, 2018 The case went to the judicial magistrate that has accepted this complaint and ordered the police to investigate the cheating case under IPC 420.
A 53-year-old woman passenger died due to a rash bus driver and a badly designed Outer Ring Road stretch. The residents allege that the BBMP was as much at fault for the faulty road elevation.
S Savitri was travelling with 50 other passengers in a Tamil Nadu public transport bus (TN23N 2115). Seated in the back seat with her family members, the bus was ferrying her from Silk Board on Outer Ring Road towards HSR Layout. On the night of December 24 at around 1.35am, the bus driver was driving rashly and zig-zagging all over the road.
When the passengers complained that they were being thrown out of their seats due to his rash driving, he did not take heed and continued with his style. When he approached the ORR stretch opposite the Sowbhagya petrol bunk on 19th Main in Sector 4, he did not notice the road’s bumpy elevation and the passengers flew in the air yet again.
However, this time, it cost the life of Savitri who was immediately rushed to Greenview hospital and later St John’s Hospital where she was declared dead at 4.30am. She had sustained a massive injury to her chest due to the impact of the rod in the bus seat in front of her. After admitting her to Greenview hospital, bus driver Jaishankar K (42 years) took the bus and went towards Banaswadi. The driver faces several counts of offences, from rash driving to causing death due to negligence, among others.
Here is some good news for all those commuters from HSR Layout who take Begur Road to avoid the congestion at Silk Board junction. Several encroachments by pushcart vendors and shops were removed on Thursday and Friday for ease of access. This was a long-pending drive that was now possible, thanks to the recent visit by Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) P Harisekharan.
Expect a wider road with few impediments on Begur Road. While the regular vendors might be absent, they could come back or newer vendors might take their place. Therefore, a continuous vigil by the BBMP officials and traffic police is required to ensure the situation stays this way. Joining them on the Friday drive was Mayor Gangambika herself. We really need such proactive participation from the elected representatives to ease the traffic mess in the city.
Traffic Awareness Drive at Silk Board on Sunday
On Sunday (Dec 23), between 3pm-6pm, there will be a traffic awareness drive at Silk Board junction by VFC India (Volunteers for a Cause) against Drunk Driving. In 2018 alone, over 35000 cases have been booked for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Several residents have complained that the HSR Layout police are refusing to register complaints of mobile snatching as a First Information Report (FIR). However, the other day when a senior cop’s phone was snatched away by miscreants on a bike, the cops not only registered his complaint but also arrested habitual offenders to check if any of them had stolen the top cop’s phone. After all, it was a prestige issue for the department now.
On December 20 at around 8.45pm, IPS officer Sanjay Sahay (55 years) was taking a stroll on 17th Cross in Sector 4 when two bike-borne thieves snatched his mobile and fled before he could do anything. The Additional Director General of Police, Police Computer Wing, filed a complaint and the FIR was promptly accepted by the HSR cops on December 21. The top cop lost his OnePlus 6 phone costing around Rs 40,000.
BE MORE RESIDENT-FRIENDLY, PLEASE!
If the rules are applied to everyone, we would have a more robust way of tackling cases, whether it’s due to the victim’s negligence (keeping the door open; wearing a necklace or talking on phone while on the road) or an actual case of theft or robbery.
We have also come across cases where many cybercrime cases are also refused by the HSR police station for the same reason. “The cops say that they lack expertise and cannot do much about recovery,” said one resident whose laptop and phones were robbed from her house when her door was open. “They give their own reasons for not filing an FIR like they are understaffed and have more crucial jobs to do like investigating murders, dacaoities, and so on.”
Another theft occurred in a shop in Sector 1. “The thieves had cut the grill and come through the ventilator window,” said the shopkeeper. “They stole Rs 1,500 cash and the CCTV receiver costing about Rs 7,500. Since the amount was less, the cops convinced me that I should not file an FIR.”
It’s true that the cops are under-staffed. And that has been the case for the last several decades. Now that it has become the norm, that is no excuse either. But what do the cops do now for chain snatching, mobile snatching and even petty theft cases? They just give an acknowledgement and never pursue the case, allege residents. With an FIR, the cops have to open the case as it has to go to court, if only to close it later. But that will reflect badly in the overall statistics. Therefore, this is the police’s way of skewing the statistics. This is not just with HSR but across the city and country. That’s why we should always assume that all the crime statistics revealed by the cops are under-reported, particularly the petty crimes.
This is the empty land opposite The Cambridge International School on Silver County Road in HSR extension. Residents have reported that garbage is burnt regularly out here for the last seven to eight months. But the BBMP health inspector of the area expresses helplessness as the area does not belong to the BBMP. However, the residents allege that they have spotted several BBMP garbage autos dumping garbage on roadsides (Kasavanahalli Road near Amrutha College) and even part of the dumping on this vacant land in Shantigram panchayat. This is a serious issue as the fence is eating the crop here. When BBMP is supposed to prevent garbage burning, its contractors are perpetrating it in non-BBMP jurisdictions.
“The burning is not only here… there are many such spots. No use, no one can help. Just suffer,” says a dejected resident Prejith. “Some death should happen. Only then, someone will open their eyes. It’s a complex issue. I have seen BBMP mini autos filled with waste coming this side for dumping.”
Resident Laly Randolf says, “We will find a way out… though may not be immediate or very effective in the beginning. Deep rooted issue… uprooting will take time.”
Kasavanahalli resident activist Vishnu Prasad said, “The BBMP said they can’t act, but will issue letter to the panchayat.”
The residents are not stopping at this. On Twitter, they are reaching out to D Randeep, BBMP Special Commissioner (Solid Waste Management) through videos and photos. “Tweets have more visibility and (looks like) more accountability,” says Laly.
Another resident on condition on anonymity had much to reveal about the nefarious state of affairs around this area of Choodasandra, Rayasandra and Shantigram. “The BBMP is not taking waste from the Kasavanahalli area; they are giving this work to the local people who are cleaning up both the BBMP and gram panchayat areas like Choodasandra and Rayasandra. These people have many tractors and collect waste from many apartments for a price. These are the rohingyas who have built tents and living here with their families. They collect the waste from surrounding areas and dump it in the 1-2 acre land here. Once the waste is dried over 3-4 days, they take away the ones that can be recycled and burn the rest at night around 10.30pm or 11pm.”
Another resident attested to this by saying, “They pour kerosene and diesel and burn the garbage every night. The smell is in the air. Kasavanahalli residents are breathing toxic air all night. You can see the heavy, dark smole even till 7am as the garbage is still burning. After one year of constant exposure to this might make every child have asthma or other breathing problems.”
The residents allege that the garbage contractor is dumping the wet waste in isolated areas and getting benefitted. So is the person collecting the recyclable waste. Although the residents have complained the state pollution control board and the cops, nothing concrete has ever come out of it. The burning continues unabated.
The 2.5 micron particulate matters rose to 157 AQI (air quality index) at 8am today. However, residents who are monitoring the air quality in HSR Layout tell us that even if the pollution is high during the day, you can beat it with some nifty measures.
Don’t want to invest in an air purifier as you don’t have people with breathing issues, no problem. “Just open your doors and windows during non peak hours for about 20 minutes,” says Shashank A. “The stale air goes out and the fresh air comes in. This itself drastically brings down the air pollution indoors to the safe levels.”
Another resident learnt this lesson the hard way. “We kept the doors and windows closed while switching on the air purifier,” says Uma K. “The PM2.5 levels have gone up to 184 AQI indoors both during the morning and night. Then, I read about how you should keep your doors open for a while in Residents Watch channel.”
The next day, she kept the doors open between 3.30pm-4pm, the time we had specified to be the best time for purer air compared to the mornings and nights. “It was like magic,” says Uma. “The AQI levels are now down to less 100 (which is ‘safe’) even when I keep the door to my room open. Which means, the AQI is he same across my house even without activating the air purifier.”
There you have it. You don’t have to use the air purifier often. However, if you have sensitive people with breathing disorders living in your house, an air purifier is a must. Otherwise, just aerating your indoors once in the day should be enough.
As you can see from the readings recorded at the Silk Board junction (the nearest place to HSR Layout has a government-certified pollution monitor), the levels are below 100 AQI, which are ‘safe’. So open your doors for a while and let the outside air purify your indoors.
