Bengaluru: Ex-BPCL CFO faced several bribe demands after daughter's loss

In a now-deleted LinkedIn post by a retired Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) officer from Bengaluru shared how, after the passing of his only daughter, he was asked for bribes at every step of the process, moving many.

K Sivakumar, the former chief financial officer (CFO) of BPCL, wrote an imploring message detailing the apathy he received while completing the official formalities, following his daughter, Akshaya’s passing.

He started his post with, “Recently, my only child passed away at age 34. The amount of open bribe being asked by ambulance, police for FIR and post-mortem report, crematorium for giving receipts, BBMP office for death certificate.”

He also described the bribe asked at the police station, “Since the police had to give a copy of the FIR and post mortem report, we met after four days and they openly demanded cash which I paid in the open police station.”

He even recounted the rudeness of a particular inspector, stating, “Inspector of Belandur police station was so arrogant with no empathy to a father who lost his only child.”

His family had a hard time obtaining the death certificate, as it was also drawn out by the officials involved. For five days, he repeatedly visited the office, but was consistently turned away with the explanation that no one was available due to an ongoing “caste survey.”

Though the certificate was eventually issued after he contacted a senior BBMP official, he was first charged more than the official fee.

After his post went viral and was brought to the police’s attention, the DCP Whitefield in Bengaluru finally took cognisance of the issue, replying to an X post on October 30.

“In connection with the incident mentioned in Sivakumar’s tweet, one PSI and one Police Constable of Bellandur Police Station have been immediately suspended. The Police Department will not tolerate any such indecent or inappropriate behaviour under any circumstances,” the police said.

In his post, Sivakumar questioned the state of affairs in India when one loses their loved one, stating, “Very sad state. I had money I paid. What will poor do?”

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