CM Sonowal orders transfer of Guwahati cops who cruised on Brahmaputra with alcohol

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has directed the Home Department of the State Government to initiate disciplinary action for the transfer of several police officers who took part in a night party on a river cruise over the Brahmaputra, in flagrant disregard of the lockdown and curfew violation in the city.

According to official sources, the department has initiated steps for the transfer of one DCP, four ACPs, two OCs, two SIs, and one ASI of the Guwahati city police who took part in the Brahmaputra cruise with a large stock of alcoholic beverages. 

Assam Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna has also urged the city police commissioner, Munna Prasad Gupta, to initiate an inquiry into the matter. Krishna, in a notice issued yesterday, asked Gupta to submit a report and initiate disciplinary proceedings against the errant police personnel.

"It is also directed that policemen under your command may be directed to scrupulously follow orders issued by the government and not display actions which are detrimental to the rule of law," Sanjay Krishna told the Commissioner.

The incident came to light after a report carried in a prominent daily - Amar Axom - which carried a report and some rather damning pictures of cops enjoying a wild party with the entire city under lockdown. According to the report, the night party organized on a ship 'T.F. Damodar', was attended by both men and women, and families of the personnel were also present.

This sensational incident has been reported at a time when Kamrup (Metropolitan) in its entirety has been put under lockdown due to a steady and alarming rise of COVID-19 cases in the urban area. The 14-day lockdown came into effect at midnight on Sunday, June 28. The situation in the city has been termed as "critical" by none other than Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who has requested the health department to conduct 10,000 tests daily within the city.

In such a state, this report of frontline personnel partying the night away has created a sensation across the state, with the pictures being widely circulated on social media due to their "shock factor."

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