A traffic scene in Delhi

New Delhi, April 6: A property dealer got 98 Delhi policemen suspended yesterday on the basis of footage from several hidden cameras that showed them taking bribes from bus drivers.

Chetan Sharma’s feat of 98-in-one-blow — the highest number of Delhi policemen to be benched in a day — came after the four-hour footage he submitted before Delhi High Court was found to be authentic, said police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat.

“We will now conduct an inquiry probing these allegations,” Bhagat said.

For the policemen out to make a quick buck, it would be tough to tell when a sting operation is on. The 35-year-old, thin, small-time real estate dealer has one camera hidden in his pen and another tucked in his cap.

Of his 98 victims, 11 are sub-inspectors, 11 assistant sub-inspectors, 10 head constables and 66 are constables.

Only three cops escaped the punishment. “I had filmed 101 cops trying to get money from Blueline bus operators. But I guess they only suspended those people they could see holding notes in their hands,” Sharma said.

He approached the high court on January 10 with the footage after spending several days seated in Blueline buses with the drivers, capturing on camera the cops demanding money at traffic lights.

Delhi’s Blueline buses have killed over 100 people in the past few months. But instead of tackling the menace head-on, in a knee-jerk action the police cracked down on the bus operators, leaving room for cops out to demand bribes to take advantage of the situation.

“Everyone is troubled by the police in some way or the other,” Sharma said. “People have the ability to fight. It’s a gift from God and if we don’t use our skill, what is the point?” Sharma asked.

This was not Sharma’s first solo sting operation.

In 2004, he had exposed a nexus between bootleggers and the police using a camcorder. Some 25 policemen got suspended after that.

He also made enemies after that expose. “My house was raided by ACP Rajbir Singh,” Sharma said, claiming that the ACP wanted to kill him. “They wanted to do an encounter with me, but I managed to get out.”

Singh, an encounter specialist, was allegedly shot by a property dealer on March 24.

“Everyone will die one day. I want to be remembered,” Sharma said.

The 98 suspended policemen may not forget him in a hurry.