[Added Cc: manish]
>>>>> "Badri" == Badri Natarajan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Badri> If he's concerned about getting his passport confiscated
Badri> and/or being told not to leave the country - that needs to be
Badri> done by a court if memory serves correctly - I don't think a
Badri> random cop can do it, especially one junior enough that he's
Badri> still on the night patrol.
Back in the 2000-2002 period, in Madras, the night patrol folks were
among the most *senior* in the police force. Those guys had really fancy
SUVs equipped with breathalyzers and fog lamps and sirens and gas masks
and other stuff, and were easily the *obviously* non-corrupt folks
complete with spiffy uniforms. They were usually posted on the GST Road,
Vadapalani, Mount Road, Adyar / Sardar Patel Road, and other major
places ... and most "shady" truckers would get pulled over.
I did *significant* amounts of evening/night travel in that period and
would get pulled over a couple times each week and it was always
absolutely straight forward. They would verify the papers and let you go
in peace if everything was legit.
I've never had to bribe a night patrol cop whereas I actually ended up
paying a day-cop in the "Indian" (tamil movie) style ... I think that's
one of the reasons that movie actually did as well as it did (AFAIK, it
got nominated and sent to the oscars as india's entry!) -- i.e. there
was some piece in the movie that everyone could relate to ...
Badri> However, some visa applications,etc ask very broad questions
Badri> which essentially amount to asking "Have you ever been in
Badri> trouble with the police?". If there is a bogus charge, he
Badri> might have to disclose that on such forms (or he could choose
It's *definitely* a question on most immigration paperwork I've yet seen
(Australia, Canada, UK, USA) ... so manish, if you _ever_ plan to apply
to immigrate elsewhere or naturalize elsewhere, you may want to keep
this in mind. The foreign government will usually want you to come up
with huge paperwork "Attested" by the police force which charged you and
well, good luck trying to get such stuff from some guy in Bangalore ;)
As for visa paperwork, *shrug* I don't know/care.
--ravi.
