How to Lodge a Police Complaint in India?

Living in India will subject you to all kinds of police officers; the honest, the greedy and the notoriously incompetent. However, let this not intimidate you. If need be, approaching and contacting a police officer can be done through dialing 100 from your mobile or house number. Major crimes must be reported to the nearest police station India by filing an FIR (First Information Report).

As a foreign national living in India, you should be aware of your duties and rights on how to lodge a police complaint in India. Here are a few tips that might come handy.

• Dial 100 for emergency police help and file a police complaint for non-emergencies by visiting your nearest police station. For example contact 100 in case of an accident and file a police complaint in case of a minor theft.

• Contact the police station of your residential jurisdiction. For example if you are living in Delhi than go to the police station nearest to your location to lodge a police complaint.

• Take your police complaint particulars including witness details to a crime or other additional evidence including photos, medical reports etc. NEVER handover originals and always keep a copy of whatever documents you give to police in India.

• Ensure to ask for a Station House Officer (SHO) in order to lodge a police complaint. Take a Hindi speaking friend or colleague with you for a better understanding and communication in Hinglish. Give the details of your complaint either in a written form or an oral form. In case of latter, do not forget to collect a copy of your complaint from the police station before leaving.

• Do not be threatened, discouraged or manipulated into giving bribe in the police station. Indian police is renowned for its not so enthusiastic attitude while launching a complaint against the rich and powerful. Also, many would simply prefer keeping their regional complaint records clean by ignoring or discouraging to file your First Information Report (FIR).

Filing a police complaint becomes easy if you live in developed cities of India like Mumbai. Here all you need to do is log on to the internet and lodge a complaint. Major crimes like rape, robbery, murder etc. cannot be lodged over the internet and for that you would need to personally go to the nearest police station.