In the days and months to come, the deeds of Sangli police will continue to haunt the Maharashtra police force. The heinous manner in which a 26-year-old youth was arrested by Sangli police in an attempt of robbery case and was tortured to death by has shocked many.
As if this was not enough, the way in which five policemen along with one Patterdar or zero police conspired and tried to destroy the evidence by torching his body in Amboli Ghat, will continue to haunt the public memory for many days to come. As this incident unfolded, the recovery of another unidentified body in the same area has now raised doubts whether such acts were a common practice by nearby police stations.
Some say that it is wrong to jump to conclusions to the point of declaring that police force in all has lost its credibility by referring to one stand-alone single incident. However, in our attempt to know what has gone wrong with Maharashtra police force, which firmly believes in a motto ‘Sad Rakshanay Khala Nighranay,’ which means protecting the righteous and controlling and annihilating the evil, we spoke to retired as well as serving IPS officers, who are known for their exemplary services to know why such incidents are not far and rare.
Cops interested in adjectives like ‘Singham’ or ‘Dabangg’!
Senior police officers remarked that police force is under tremendous pressure to perform and detect the offenses. This very own pressure creates a race among investigators to give instant detection and once this mentality creeps in, those involved in the investigation tend to take shortcuts and often try to circumvent the procedure mentioned in the rulebook. The senior officer claimed that lure of publicity and attraction to win adjectives like ‘ Dabangg’ or ‘Singham’ forces men in uniform to take ghastly shortcuts.
Lack of silent investigators in the force!
Meeran Chadha Borwankar, former director general, Bureau of Police Research & Development, told Sakal Times that when she joined in force in the 1980s, Maharashtra police force was blessed with many such police officers, who were known for their expertise in cracking challenging cases. She added, “These officers never cared for publicity nor did they work for awards. These investigators used to carry out their work silently, they were often referred as someone having impressive ‘baithak’ or command over the way investigation is carried out.” She further added that away from media glare, these officers would relentlessly spend hours together on cracking challenging cases. She remarked that due to media and public pressure these days, the police officers are forced to crack the cases immediately.
Have cops lost the connect with the common man?
Highlighting how police and common man connect is missing nowadays, which is why detection of cases has become difficult for policemen, Suresh Khopade, retired special inspector general, said that ‘Mohalla Committees,’ which were a norm till 2011, were abolished. He told Sakal Times that this system was replaced by the concept of ‘Police Mitra.’ Khopade added that in many cases, these Police Mitras are working as agents of the local police station and are involved in collecting money for senior police officers. Khopade, who designed the concept of Mohalla Committee, said that these committees used to provide instant connect in police force and citizens. The committees consisting of local corporators, doctors and teachers could question the concerned police officials if they found a particular police officer involved in malpractices.
Seniors have no control over subordinates!
Senior IPS Officer YC Pawar said that the incident in Sangli has caused serious embarrassment to the police force and put a blot on humanity. Pawar raised a question that this incident highlights the fact how senior police officers have failed to supervise their subordinate officials. He demanded, “From the point of custodial death of suspect to investigators trying to torch the body of a suspect, how come the Station Duty In-charge was clueless.” Pawar added that this very fact highlights how senior officers have no control over the way their subordinates function.
Another Senior IPS officer, who does not wish to be quoted, said that while relying on the basis of scientific tools such as CCTVs or mobile locations may take more days to crack the case, however, many investigators in order to outdo one another, often resort to taking shortcuts, which may lead to such heinous crimes. If this has to stop, citizens need to show some patience
