Mumbai, Jan 7 (Mumbai Mirror): One-and-a-half years after he exposed corruption in Mumbai police’s traffic department, head constable Sunil Toke has now moved the Bombay High Court seeking registration of an FIR and departmental action against the concerned officers.

This newspaper in its edition dated April 25, 2015 had carried a detailed article on the sting operation carried out by Toke on officials from his own department. A few months after the expose, he was shunted out to the local arms division.

The petition enlists number of officers – with dates – to whom Toke had first complained about the corrupt practices of his seniors. The first complaint as made on September 29, 2014 to Additional Commissioner of Mumbai Traffic Police, followed by a complaint to the Joint Commissioner of Mumbai Traffic police and the Commissioner of Police. “It is pertinent to note that since 2014 no single appointment has been given to the petitioner, which clearly shows that the concerned officials are hand-in-gloves with the traffic police officials,” the petition says.

After repeatedly trying to draw the attention of some of the highest ranking officers in the force, Toke eventually forwarded the complaint to the chief minister in May 2015 and in November the same year to the director general of police.

Toke, who joined police service in 1985, was posted with the Goregaon traffic police and then the Wadala traffic police between 2013 and 2016. The petition, filed through Advocates Pradeep Havnur and Datta Mane, states that during Toke’s tenure at the traffic department, he was shocked by the rampant corruption.

The petition lists a rate card that Toke’s colleagues carried which listed bribes for ignoring various traffic offences. “The traffic police accept money from trucks carrying sand illegally, trucks which evade octroi, trucks which carry construction material, for illegal parking, for drunk driving and so on,” the petition alleges.

It further states that the traffic police collect Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 from four and five-star hotels for allowing illegal parking. “There are thousands of illegal taxis and auto-rickshaws plying in the city without requisite permissions. The traffic police collect Rs 1000-2000 from each of such vehicles every month,” it claims.

It also alleges that during ‘nakabandi’ for drunk driving, approximately only five out of 50 offenders are fined officially. “In the rest of the cases, Rs 10000 to Rs 50000 gets the driver escape punishment. The petition is likely to be heard next week.