A delinquent senior police officer from the state was found to have kept drugs—originally confiscated by enforcement and designated to police custody—in his official residence. His completely implausible statements continue to mortify and stupefy everyone. The various reasons that he gave the media are preposterous and juvenile that even children will have a good laugh out of it.
In his latest statement, the officer told one of the national media houses that he had kept the drugs in his house in good faith as it had ‘round the clock security.’ Through that statement, probably to cover up his actions, he demeaned the very department and the prestigious Indian Police Service (IPS) of which he is a member.
His statement indicates that the state’s police headquarter was not safe for keeping the 6.9 kg of the contraband, although it was being kept there for the initial 14 days. Then he dropped the next bombshell: no ‘case’—complaint—was registered against the two persons from whom the drugs were found. Our very own local Johnny English instead let go of them, again in good faith, on the promise that they would bring the kingpin. Unfortunately, they never returned! An officer of the country’s most prestigious police service, the IPS, and in the rank of an inspector general of police displaying such ineptitude is just inconceivable. There is more to it than meets the eye.
If no complaint was registered, probably no panchnamma was prepared—no seizure memo, no forensic details about the persons caught with the drugs, no report of what exactly the composition of the contraband is.
Among other subjects, an IPS officer in the country needs to clear exams covering various statutes and Acts. The Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), Evidence Act, forensic investigation etc., are some of the subjects police officers need to clear before being absorbed into the Indian Police Service. For senior officers, the procedures and rules laid down by the statutes are part of their day-to-day duties and tasks.
Moreover, the procedures for narcotics and drugs-related cases are clearly laid-down rules empowered by the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985. All these laws and rules were shoved into the dustbin with his actions, and the police department’s inclination to come to the delinquent officer’s rescue. It is time that the parent department come out with a clear statement, besides suspending the officer involved until the case is closed.
