Transfer of SP and others: Gauhati High Court not happy

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Going the extra mile, the State government has transferred all the police personnel manning the Bilasipara Police Station in Dhubri district as a punitive measure. The government transferred Dhubri SP a few days ago in connection with the detention of a lactating mother and her breastfeeding baby at Bilasipara police station for six days.

Meanwhile, the Gauhati High Court is not happy with the action taken against the erring SP and other police personnel by the State Government. Hearing the petition today, the Court asked why the government stopped short of suspending the SP and other police personnel in the case. They expressed serious concern over the filing of the FIR by the police after five days of the accused’s detention. “The investigation officers have created a post-investigation FIR on May 31 in spite of the fact that two previous FIRs had already been registered in relation to the killing of Baser Ali. It clearly appears that this FIR was registered so as to somehow justify the arrest of Rokiya Khatun. Such a procedure is totally alien to the principles of criminal jurisprudence,” the bench led by Chief Justice Sandeep Mehta said.

With this punitive measure, the government wants to get its message across that, at all costs, the police force in the state has to adopt a people-friendly approach in performing their duty. However, despite repeated efforts by the government, a section of the men in uniform have no takers for this approach.

Two days ago, the police had to arrest a sub-inspector of police for taking bribes. Such incidents have happened in the past as well. When chances come for minting money in an unscrupulous way, a section of police personnel in the state never misses that. Despite the people-friendly approach of the state police force becoming a slogan, the common people are still hesitant to approach the police stations seeking solutions to their problems. Due to the unhealthy behaviour of a section of police personnel, the common people cannot take the police force of the state into their confidence.

The police administration has opened a cell in each of the police stations to redress public grievances. It has deputed personnel to man the cells. However, this measure is yet to be universal in the state.

According to official sources, the department is carrying out reforms to make the state police force more people-friendly, but it takes time. “We have opened Assam Police Seva Setu that attends to all complaints, grievances, etc., of the public online without making them rush to police stations. For those who opt for offline mode, we have made arrangements for the deployment of personnel to hear public grievances. However, the system has yet to be universal in the state. It may take time to streamline each and every aspect of such a big force,” an official source said.

The lack of continuation of police reform measures that have already been adopted does not augur well for making the force more friendly. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma did announce that soon after a fatal accident, the police will act and do all activities within a specific timeframe and hand over death certificates to the families concerned in their houses. Likewise, the police will hand over verification certificates to the applicants at their houses. This stricture was followed initially, but the process is losing steam slowly and certainly.

Also Read:  Gauhati High Court suspends orders issued by Home and Political Department

Also Watch: