New Delhi: The horrific Delhi gangrape of December 2012 was committed on board a private bus which had a fake licence issued on a fake address. A series of sting operations conducted by IBN7 four months after the shocking incident shows that not much has changed in the national capital.
At Delhi Transport's Loni office, where private buses are registered and drivers verified, one can instantly find touts promising help. Posing as a customer, IBN7 asks a tout Sudhir Sharma if he could get commercial licences made for six drivers with no address proof nor a one-year-old licence which is mandatory by law. And his answer was in positive! He said he would get a forged ration card first.
"I'll get your Ration Card made at their office itself," the tout told IBN7, adding that he knew people in that office. "I charge Rs 2000 for ration card. But for you, just Rs 1500," said the tout as he fixed the prices.
Meanwhile, he offered another solution to get commercial licence made without any required documents. "I have a relative, Ashwini Kumar. He's an MLO at the Authority in Hapur. Licence can be from anywhere, it just has to be a commercial licence. I can even get you a `heavy' (vehicle) licence," said Sharma. As per law, a heavy commercial licence requires several tests and is issued a year after getting a commercial licence, but this tout needs just a few days.
"People keep Rs 9-10,000 ready for a commercial licence. If you have original documents, we use them. If not, we fudge them," said the tout.
"Money reaches to the senior transport officials. It is the only way work happens. If you try to just go and get a licence yourself, it won't happen," Sharma tells IBN7 when asked about the huge price.
The next day when IBN7 approached the tout, we were told our forged ration card and other documents were ready. "The address you gave, didn't come. So, we have got this - B-433 Gokulpuri with names- Suraj Singh, Sonu Singh and Amit Chaudhuri," Sharma said.
Inside the Loni Authority office for verification, the documents went to another middle-man, who runs a driving school. "The money goes through this person who took the form," Sharma tells IBN7.
Every rule could be bent at this government office. All you need do is pay. IBN7 received the forged learning licence and ration card in the next 10 minutes.
IBN7 checked if this address really existed. Yes it did. Ramesh from Kanpur lived at the given address. He died some five years ago and his wife now washes dishes to make a living.
Post the Delhi gangrape incident, then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had demanded Delhi Police be brought under the state government. But after the explosive revelations that this sting operation makes, one needs to look into the government itself to check such malpractices.
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