THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, September 2: DGP Anurag Gupta has shot off a 2-page letter to the SSPs and SPs to exit police officers who do not behave well with the public, invents pretext after pretext for not doing things properly and in time and defy the provisions of law.
A copy of the letter has been sent to DG, CID /Special Branch to keep eyes on errant police officers who do not behave well with the public. The DGP asked for a report about such officers to initiate strict administrative action.
Emphasis on stringent action
The DGP’s letter is unambiguous. It is most hard-hitting and candid. It can be seen that words like ‘Kari'(stringent) and ‘Sakht'(strict) find expression in the DGP’s letter several times.
Its repetition is with a purpose. It is to ask SSPs and SPs not to take this letter as any other letter emanating from the office of the DGP.
The DGP’s August 31 letter is being seen as a first step towards cementing the hiatus between police and the public.
As Jharkhand is heading towards its due assembly election, a bond between police and the public may forge a chapter of understanding between the two.
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Issues at Police Stations
There is no denying the fact that police officers at the thana level talk to the public rudely. Elderly or senior citizens are kept standing while an ASI poses as if he has the world’s all problems on his back.
Verification of character forms, passport application forms etc at the police station is no easy task as the stereotyped reply is ‘Kal aana. Sahib chhetra mein hain.’ It is true on occasions but it should not be an affair with every day.
The DGP’s letter singles out Munshis in the police station who poses as the real boss. A visitor to Thana is to confront a Munshi invariably. And here the ordeal begins.
It’s the Munshis who behaved badly with the complainant and dilly dally in giving receipts for the complaint so lodged. Their conduct leaves much to be desired. This is the hard fact of any police station across the state.
Mandate to serve the public
“Every police officer should keep in mind that he is a public servant and not master of the public,” the DGP said.
The DGP’s letter further reads, “Police samaj aur janta kay sewak aur surakchha karmi hain na ki unkey malik.”
The Jharkhand Story has a copy of the DGP’s letter with it.
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Inordinate delay in registering FIR
The DGP, in his letter, has pointed out that inordinate delay is made in registering the FIR for which a slice of pretext is invented by the police officers.
The DGP’s letter reads that in the event of cybercrime, SC /ST issues, human trafficking matters, instances of crime against women etc a police officer invariably asks the victim or the petitioner to visit the concerned Thana set up for it.
“This is too wrong. No police officer is to redirect a victim or a petitioner like this. He has to entertain the complaint. How it is that a police officer can ask to go to this or that police set up just because there is a Thana specific for it,” stated the DGP letter.
There is no justification for making a victim or a petitioner detour to lodge his complaint. A police officer is bound to act.
Legal compliance and accountability
The DGP’s letter alludes to section 173 of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita 2023. It reminds police officers to rise above territorial jurisdiction and help lodge an FIR /OFIR. If a police officer is found not acting so then it is beyond any doubt that the said police officer is defying the act.
The crux of the DGP’s letter is police must behave well with the public. There must not be any ‘badtameezi’ (misbehaviour). It is not acceptable at all.
There are police stations where police officers bend too forward to a select few including contractors, builders and traders while a common man waits for his turn to be heard by the Bada Babu of the Thana.
