On Thursday, a tailor who wanted to confess to murdering his best friend was turned away from two police stations, both claiming that the crime didn’t occur in their jurisdiction. The confessor first visited Shivaji Nagar police station in Govandi, relating the minutest details of his crime. But instead of putting him in jail, the cops sent him to Dindoshi Police, who directed him to Kurar Police, who finally accepted his surrender and arrested him.

Until now, this used to happen when people visited police stations to register FIRs. A majority of people who have tried to have their grievances addressed at a police station return disappointed, as cops either refuse to take down their complaint, or dissuade them from lodging one. In many cases they even dilute the seriousness of the issue to serve somebody’s interest, or in extreme cases, intimidate the complainants.