1,398 Punjab policemen in crime clique
RTI Query Shows Top Cops Charged With Grave Offences
Shruti Setia Chhabra & Anilesh S Mahajan | TNN
Ludhiana/Chandigarh:
From rape to murder, custodial third degree to running fake currency rackets and organizing illegal immigration, an RTI document obtained by TOI has revealed that a staggering 1,398 Punjab police personnel, right from the DGP to constables, continue to be involved in crime and, in almost all cases, getting away with it.
While this figure for the 46,000-strong contingent does not include personnel serving in eight battalions of Punjab Armed Police (PAP), seven Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) and five commando units, the list includes three DGPs, an ADGP, three IGPs, 19 SPs and 28 DSPs among others. Eight serving DSPs have been accused of murder and an equal number are accused of abduction and kidnapping.
“This may be just the tip of the iceberg. We have to understand that for every case registered, there must be at least a hundred others which the police do not allow to be registered,” said Hitender Jain, general secretary of Resurgence India, a civil rights organization, while sharing the data with TOI.
Alleging that most information on IPS and PPS officers was incomplete, Jain said, “The incomplete truth is also good enough to assess how safe we are in the hands of such custodians of law.”
The data reveals that such policemen continue to enjoy plum postings even as they face serious charges without a single suspension. This is in gross violation of the Punjab Police Act, 2007, section 13.2, which states that each police station should be headed by an SHO who faces no prosecution in a criminal case, is neither chargesheeted by the vigilance bureau nor its own department for misconduct involving moral turpitude and whose integrity has not been doubted for a period of five years prior to taking up charge.
According to section 16.18 of the Punjab Police Rules, 1934, a policeman undergoing departmental inquiry should ordinarily be placed under suspension if it appears that charges are likely to be framed against him. However, it adds, unnecessary suspension should be avoided to check non-effectives. However, rule 16.19, relating to judicial cases, states that police personnel charged with criminal offence should be placed under suspension from the date of
Police chief claims to be in the dark
Ludhiana/Chandigarh: While it shocked many from the fraternity, retired Uttar Pradesh DGP Prakash Singh, the man behind police reforms in the country following the apex court judgment on a PIL filed by him in 2006, said, “It’s unbelievable! If cops with doubtful integrity have not been suspended and were promoted even when they were undertrials, I would say it’s a scandal.”
Claiming to know little about the total number of criminal cases filed against his men, Punjab DGP NPS Aulakh said, “I will ask my office to update me on them and will take suitable action. I have to go through the details before reacting to the situation.” Reiterating his commitment to providing clean and transparent policing in the state, he added, “If irregularities are proved, strict action will be taken against the guilty.” TNN
trial unless directed otherwise by the DIG or AIG (GRP). However,officers choose to keep quiet on its implementation.
“The Punjab police story is just an example and may be true for other states too. We need to evolve an effective strategy to overpower the monster before it is too late,” said Jain.
