Hyderabad: The new anti-corruption drive within the police department seems to have brought positive changes, as the incidents of police collecting ‘mamools’ have come down. As many as 250 cops, who were actively involved in this systemic corruption, have been transferred from the police stations to the head quarters in the last four months and have been warned.

After the TS government granted a monthly maintenance fund to each police station, commissioner Mahender Reddy had given strict instructions to each SHO to do away with the practice of mamool. The Hyderabad police mobile app, Hawk eye, Facebook page and toll free numbers also became instrumental in this anti-corruption drive.

“After a brief assessment of the activities of the cops on the field, around 250 personnel, most of them mamool collectors, were transferred to the headquarters. They were asked to give an undertaking that they will not repeat the practice. They were then warned and transferred to different police stations,” a senior police official from Hyderabad said.

Earlier, as if abiding by an unwritten rule, owners of most of the kirana shops, wine shops, bars, paan shops and other medium commercial establishments paid a certain amount to the ‘money collector’ from the local police station regularly. The amount each police station collected each month ran into lakhs.

Many cops, who endorse the system, say that a big part of the mamool goes towards the expenses of a police station, and not into the personal kitty of an officer. “We had to pay a certain amount to cops from two police stations. Sometimes free food too, and in return they allow us to operate beyond the permissible time limit i.e. after 11 pm,” said an eatery owner near the Secunderabad railway station. “This has been a tradition for years, and it is a mutual agreement between us,” he added.

However, the Telangana state government has a maintenance fund of Rs 75,000 for each police station. The government is also ready to give special funds according to the need of the police department. This new financial strength has prompted the higher officials to curb the corrupt practices.

Meanwhile, traders say there are still some black sheep in the department, who extort money using different strategies. Higher officials say the victims should use toll free numbers, emergency numbers (dial 100), Facebook page, and the Hawkeye app to report such offenders.