THANKS to the shocking revelations made by top cop Param Bir Singh in his letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and subsequent expose`s about the flawed functioning of the Police Department vis-a-vis political bosses, some current as well as retired police officers have begun discussing ways and means to restore the good name of Maharashtra Police, ‘The Hitavada’ has learnt.

 

Most officers who are naturally unwilling to let their names be mentioned on record say that they have begun establishing contacts with one another with a sense of urgency in the past 3-4 days to explore ways to improve the overall standards of the Police force. Because political lords have begun exerting undue influence on the functioning of the Police Department through some officers, efforts are needed to be made to restore professional pride in rank and file of the force, these officers feel. A police officer who retired long ago from a high position said, in effect, that it was futile to expect the political bosses to allow the Police Department to work professionally, thanks to the undesirable benefits of the nexus they have developed over time with the officers of the Police force.

 

“The best way, therefore, is to make the younger officers conscious of their moral duty to stay out of the shadow of corruption and lend the force a good name it actually should deserve”, he added. Admitting that corruption is not a new thing with the Police force, many senior officers, however, now wish to make attempts to redeem its image by undertaking personal initiatives to instill in young officers a better sense of duty and morality. “These subjects are no doubt taught during training to all levels of Police force, but in the past some years, a good number among us seems to have lost sight of those. If the seniors start resisting undesirable temptations and standing up to offers of corrupt deals, and likewise give support to younger officers to say a firm “No” to wrong thought and action, then we may be able to do something good for the Police force”, a senior officer confided. In this endeavour, he and some of his high-level peers are thinking of enlisting help of a few retired top officers who had earned for themselves a name for their integrity, it is learnt.

 

Though nobody wishes to come on record for obvious reasons, most officers confided with this scribe that most charges in the letter by (now Director General of State Home Guards) Param Bir Singh or the complaint by the then chief of State Intelligence Rashmi Shukla or another senior cop Subodh Jaiswal were factual. “It is not without reason that Param Bir Singh could muster courage to approach the Supreme Court not just seeking a stay on his transfer but also a detailed investigation into Home Minister Anil Deshmukh’s shenanigans by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)”, an officer currently holding an important position said insisting that his name be kept under wraps. Of course, the political leaders whose names have sprung up from such communications from senior Police officers to the State Government would certainly deny all the charges.

 

Yet, stories of the politics-police nexus always dominate conversation among common people. The reports that have surfaced in the past 3-4 days only endorse whatever was available in public domain for long. Notwithstanding the damage to the good name of the Police force in the recent disclosures, these handful of senior officers and some retired officers now intend to undertake a drive to push up levels of Police morality and thus counter the undesirable political influence on the force, ‘The Hitavada’ has learnt. ///