Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Police Story - Delft Style

Even before I set foot in Netherlands, I had heard several encounters of the Indian public with the Dutch Police. After coming to Delft, it was no different.

- Dont ride after dark without lights else the cops might catch and fine you.

- Dont drink or smoke weed in the streets else the cops might catch and fine you.

- Always carry your residence permit else ...

Of course, my bike light has a mind of its own and never switches on when I want it to. This made travelling in the night quite a scary experience. Not because I might hit someone but because I might get "fined" :P

Okay! This encounter with the cops was totally unexpected and my first time too. But the way it unfolded, I would never have guessed unless it was in India :D
Saish with his usual pose :D

After an amazing Avengers movie viewing at the Pathe in Rotterdam, my friends, Chetan, Saish, Winoi, and myself made our way back to Delft way past midnight. We get down at the Delft station on platform 1. We start climbing the over bridge while notice a couple of cops walk down from the over bridge to platform 2. My friend Winoi and I notice a glass fall from under the stairs and we look around to find no one. So we continue on. We hear the cops say something and approach us from the side. We just keep moving until we realise he was talking to us and stop.

He approaches us and starts speaking in Dutch. We tell him we dont know Dutch and if he could speak in English. He starts, "You think I did not see ?"

We are kind of confused and ask him what happened. He goes on, "You drop a glass of beer and think I would not see."

Chetan goes ahead and tells him that he can test us for alcohol since we never drank any beer. The police guy gets a bit irritated and says, " So you think I am lying ??"

Now when a cop says something like that, things just might get nasty. Moreover, he shifts his hands from the front of his belt to his gun on his hip. Powerful move. Definitely. But we stuck to our story hoping he will believe.

Then he continues, "Usually, you would get a ticket for this."
So we dont get a ticket ?? Hurraayyy !!!
"But this time, I will let you go. Do not repeat it again."

Of course not.. So we thank him (still dunno why) and leave.

Later enlightened Chetan (Cos he knows everything ;)) told me that there was nothing to fear. If we got a ticket, we could wait till we get a mail from the court or go to the court website online and file a complaint where you can put forward your version and moreover also add how the person was rude and not willing to listen.

So another lesson learnt and the discussion is still open as to if his pistol was a real one or if it was a stun gun. Trust me none of us had any intention of finding out ;)

4 comments:

  1. Wow! Still sorry you had to have this experience in the Netherlands Abhinav, but counting your ;) and :D's it seems you are not too upset about it. See you soon, xx Merel

    Oh yeah, I still really like the way you write :)

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  2. Thank you Merel :) Not at all upset since there was no fine involved :P

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  3. Nice write up!

    But I have to say I am extremely surprised to hear the above incident.

    I have been in the Netherlands for the same time as you and I have never even come close to an incident like that!

    I have traveled to a lot of places, including many remote ones, and have never carried a residence permit or my passport or even my college ID!
    I have never seen anyone being stopped for drinking in public. I see people with beer cans all the time!
    And I have never been stopped for biking without a light, even in a crowded city like Eindhoven.

    I guess you had a very rare encounter ! I am still surprised that this happened.

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  4. Delft is stricter and there are certain rules people have to follow. Makes it a good city to live in.

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