Mumbai: Worli woman harassed, manhandled by cops on bandobast duty for PM Modi

What couldve been a starry night turned out to be a scary one for me advertising professional Shilika Roy 24 tweeted on December 13 The reason for the scare were several police officers ironically on VIP bandobast duty for Prime Minister Narendra Modi someone who has consistently lamented the countrys VIP culture Not only did the cops speak rudely with Roy but also manhandled her She has now sought action against themShilika Roy tweeted on the incidentRoys night of police horrors began after her friends dropped her off near Avion Hotel on the Western Express Highway Then the Worli resident booked an Uber at 1022 pm to go home The cab was supposed to arrive on the opposite side of the road so she crossed over to wait thereRoys night of police horrors began after her friends dropped her off near Avion Hotel on the Western Express Highway Then the Worli resident booked an Uber at 1022 pm to go home The cab was supposed to arrive on the opposite side of the road so she crossed over to wait thereGo in the gullyThen a male police officer asked me where I wanted to go I said Im waiting for my cab He allowed me to wait there My cab crossed the location and went ahead so I started walking towards it Meanwhile the cops asked the cab to leave so it got cancelled and I had to wait again on the footpath Roy told midday adding It was around 1040 pm when a policewoman asked me to wait inside a gully As any girl would do for her safety I refused to wait in an unknown gully full of menI was left wondering why we keep blaming political parties past amp present governments and leaders when the issue is with behaviour at the grassroot level We have allowed VIP culture we have allowed fear to creep in to our lives we have allowed ourselves to lose perspectivemdash Shilika Roy shilikaroy December 14 2017But of course fear conquers all 13 years in Bombay this is the worst experience Ive had It left me shaking in anger and deeply upsetmdash Shilika Roy shilikaroy December 14 2017Having said all of this its not the city the government or the police I intend to draw attention to Its the people Its us The only time I had the policewomans sympathy was when I asked her to imagine herself in my place because she is as much a citizen as I ammdash Shilika Roy shilikaroy December 14 2017I even got down to explaining simple logic like Im a citizen looking for a cab on the highway where will I find it on the highway Police Par VIP aa raha haiI found myself telling them repeatedly Aapka logic galat hai But obviously they couldnt comprehendmdash Shilika Roy shilikaroy December 14 2017Now Ill tell you why I think its scaryIts scary because people are so scared From everything I was told the one consistent and strong vibe was fear How much this fear tactic has been drilled into us we dont even realise So much so that we stop looking for logicmdash Shilika Roy shilikaroy December 14 2017So many thousands of citizens being inconvenienced for 1 VIP narendramodi Is that what power is for Arent they all government servants Is this how the VIP or the Police are supposed to serve us citizensmdash Shilika Roy shilikaroy December 14 2017I still didnt budge Stood there alone on that footpath The VIP entourage passed by and within seconds none of those policemen and women were to be seen At that point I felt the saddest and angriest Ive ever feltmdash Shilika Roy shilikaroy December 14 2017Me Aap pagal ho kyaPolice Dikhao hum check karengeMumbaiPolice opened my bags took things out stuffed them back in and threw one bag down All this while hurling abuses at me and constantly cribbing in Marathi about how Im being a pain and not letting them do their jobmdash Shilika Roy shilikaroy December 14 2017The same policewoman comes to me again and straightaway grabs me by my arm and starts pulling me towards the gully Police Chali ja waha pe humare naukri chali jayegi etc I resisted and repeatedly screamed Dont touch meShe lets go and asks Tere bag mein kuch hai kyamdash Shilika Roy shilikaroy December 14 2017Policewoman said stay here for 10 mins till the entourage passes I reluctantly agreed and stood there Around 10 mins had passed Im still standing there trying to book another Ubermdash Shilika Roy shilikaroy December 14 20173 Agar aapko kuch ho gaya toh fir hum sab aapki madad karengeMe Main kuch bura hone ka wait karungi taaki tab aap apna service de sake After some more yelling at Brihan Mumbai Police they let me be on the footpath stuck to the wall of a shop so I could be hiddenmdash Shilika Roy shilikaroy December 14 20171Police Hum apne marzee se rules nahi banate hai upar se order aaya hai Aap upar wale ko complaint kijiyeMe Kahaan hai upar wala Ask him to come to me because Im inconvenienced Police Twitter pe likhiye2Humari naukri chali jayegi please gully mein jaiyemdash Shilika Roy shilikaroy December 14 2017Which attracted some more police men and women mightve been around 10 peopleBy now Im yelling at them on an empty WEH with around 10 policemen and women around me and here are some of the things I was told mdash Shilika Roy shilikaroy December 14 2017While Im still speaking to the driver on the phone trying to get him to own up to his mistake three police women come to me saying please keep walking ahead or get inside one of the gullies I refused to walk any further or hide in a shady gullymdash Shilika Roy shilikaroy December 14 2017to keep pedestrians off the main road and even off the footpathsNow I wanted to head home to Worli Booked an Uber and had to walk ahead quite a bit because Madam please saamne jaiye taxi ke liye Uber cancelled whats newmdash Shilika Roy shilikaroy December 14 2017Traffic in Bombay has been crazier than usual today Any guesses whynarendramodi is in town So that implies a crazy lot of security because VIPTraffic flow from the Airport signal towards Worli had been stopped and a lot of police were deployed all along the highwaymdash Shilika Roy shilikaroy December 14 2017What couldve been a starry night Geminids meteor shower turned out to be a scary one for me Shortly after we started our journey to Vangani I decided to go back home instead because I wasnt feeling too well So I got off where Avion Hotel is on the WEH in Bombaymdash Shilika Roy shilikaroy December 14 2017Shilika Roy tweeted on the incidentRoy and the cop then had an argument as the cop kept insisting Roy had no option but to wait there as a VIP was going to pass Roy refused after which cops began yelling at her saying its an order and their jobs would be at risk if she didnt moveTweet to top bossThe quarrel continued and one of the cops asked her to complain to their top bosses if she had an issue with the rules When she asked where she could do so he said Twitter Then a second policeman came and insisted that she go in the gully or they would lose their jobs The cops finally allowed Roy to wait on the footpath But the policewomen asked her to go further back so she would not be seenRoy waited for 1015 minutes stuck to the wall of a shop trying to book another cab But her troubles were far from over The same policewoman grabbed me by my arm and started pulling me She was applying physical pressure on me without any instigation There was no communication or even eye contact in the time I was waiting on the footpath She began yelling at me said RoyA warning to the copsThe women proceeded to check her bags and threw one of them down All this while she hurled abuses at me and constantly cribbed in Marathi about how Im being a pain and not letting them do their job I still didnt move The VIP entourage passed by and within seconds none of those cops were to be seen she added Roy finally got a cab back home at 1108 pmSince then Roys complaint has been taken down and referred to the Vile Parle police who wrote her an email saying Considering your inconvenience we have warned the lady constable and policeman for the incident We will also take care of citizens of our area during VIP movement and bandobast Laxman Chavan senior inspector Vile Parle police station confirmed the same to middayCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news current affairs from Mumbai local news crime news and breaking headlines hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go