The State Home Department in Maharashtra is gearing up for a significant overhaul of its top police leadership, including the position of Director General of Police (DGP) and Police Commissioners of Nagpur and Thane. The impending retirement of the current DGP, Rajnish Seth, on December 31 has prompted the department to commence the process of selecting his successor.A top rank official said that several prominent names have emerged as contenders for the esteemed position of State DGP. The frontrunner is Senior IPS Officer Rashmi Shukla, who currently serves as the Director General (DG) of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar is also a strong candidate for the role. Other notable contenders include Thane CP Jaijeet Singh, DG ATS Sadanand Date, DG Police Housing Sandeep Bishnoi, DG Railway Pradnya Sarvade, Additional Director of NIA Atulchandra Kulkarni, and DG State Security Corporation Bipin Kumar Singh, he said. He further stated that the State Home
Publshed on November 6, 2019
With 456 criminal cases registered against Police personnel in the State, Maharashtra Police ranks first in the ‘unwanted list’ of committing crime in India. The shocking revelation came to fore in a report issued by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for year 2017. In crime committred by Police personnel, the state recorded a jump of 256 per cent in year 2017 as compared to 173 cases in year 2016, reveals the study of the situation of two years ago.
After Maharashtra Police, Gujarat Police ranked 2nd for committing crime with 191 cases, followed by 169 cases committed by Rajasthan Police, 164 cases committed by Andhra Pradesh Police, 116 crime committed by Tamil Nadu Police, 114 crimes committed by Punjab and Kerala Police, 106 crimes committed by Uttar Pradesh Police and so on.
Of all the 456 cases, the Maharashtra Police department has filed its chargesheets in 237 cases while 35 such complaints against the cops have been quashed by a magistrate’s court. A total of 11 Police personnel have been convicted by the courts, which means that at least 216 cops are still facing a trial.
After analysing data from 2014 to 2017, it came to fore that the number jumped by 256 per cent from 2016 to 2017. A total of 178 cases were registered against Police in year 2016 which jumped to 456 in year 2017. Earlier, the state witnessed 237 cases against Police in year 2014 and 162 cases in year 2015.
Surprisingly, in all these cases, not a single Police officer has been arrested for alleged crimes in year 2017.
15 custodial deaths
A total of 15 custodial deaths were registered against Police personnel for torturing or inflicting injuries on accused or under trials, who were either in remand or were only detained in 2017. Judicial/Magisterial inquiries were ordered in four such cases in which Maharashtra ranked second after Andhra Pradesh.
Of these deaths, seven cases were suicides, three were deaths due to illness or deaths in hospitals during treatment, one due to injuries sustained during Police custody to physical assault by Police, two due to accident during journey connected with investigation and two due to other reasons.
And interestingly, only seven cops have been arrested for custodial deaths of these 15 persons. However, there has been no single conviction in any of the cases.
On various occasions, the Police department opened fire, ordered lathi-charge and other stern measures. In all this, over 476 civilians have sustained injuries while nine have succumbed to death. In lathi-charge alone, at least 230 innocent persons have sustained injuries at the hands of the Police force and of these two have died.
133 accused escape Police custody
A total of 133 accused persons managed to escape from Police custody in year 2017. Of them, 103 were re-arrested while 19 still continue to be at large. According to NCRB report, 18 escaped from Police lock-up and 115 from outside lock-up. A total of five Police personnel were booked and one was arrested for the professional lapse. .
Revenue Dept tops chart of corruption, Police ranks second
In corruption cases reported in year 2017, State Revenue Department was the ‘most corrupt’ Government department in the State while State Police ranked second. According to statistics of ACB, a total of 207 officials of Revenue Department were arrested by ACB for demanding bribe and a total cash worth Rs 52,29,800 was seized from them. As many as 170 Police personnel were arrested on corruption charges and a total cash worth Rs 18,43,000 was recovered from them.
Higher ethical norms lead to more registration of Police crime
Even as the findings of the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) are likely to be construed by the common people as an indication of an inept and immoral Police Force, a deeper analysis of the situation leads to an invariable conclusion that the ethical standards and a good professional culture of the Force compels the topbrass to ensure that most Police crimes are registsred.
As against this, as knowledgeable sources indicate, the Police topbrass in many other States are not as meticulous about high professional and ethical standards of rank and file of the Police Force. Over time, the Maharashgtra Police and the Home Department have insisted more and more about not letting go the wrongdoes from rank and file, a retired high-rank Police officer said.
This remark was seconded by many officers who are currently in uniform.
This remark also stands the scrutiny of time as the overall record of Maharashtra Police has remained near the top of all statistical and professioanl norms. ///
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