By Pradeep Kapoor
LUCKNOW: All is not well with UP Police. If remedial steps are not taken in time, there could be a situation like the PAC revolt on 1973. The large scale protest by the policemen over the action against two constables involved in the shooting of Apple executive Vivek Tewari is causing a major worry to the Yogi government.
In May 1973, three battalions of Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary located in Bareilly, Meerut and Agra staged a mutiny in demand of better pay, work conditions and other facilities. The army had to be called in to control the mutiny, which resulted in about 30 policemen shot dead and hundreds of others were arrested. The mutiny led to the resignation of the then Congress ministry.
The state government had dismissed the two constables and arrested them for their alleged involvement in murder of the Apple executive in the night when he refused to stop the vehicle in a posh locality of the state capital.
State DGP OP Singh termed the offending constables as rouges in uniform. The government action led to a call to junior employees in the police force to stage a protest. The call for observing a black day was given by dismissed constables Avinash Prakash Pathak, the general secretary of police non-gazetted employees welfare association, and the other constable, Brijendra Yadav, chairperson of the group and they were arrested in Mirzapur and Varanasi respectively.
Despite warnings from the top brass of the police department, a large number of constables in Lucknow and other places wore black bands to express solidarity with the dismissed constables. Similarly, constable Sarvesh Choudhry of Etah was suspended for posting a video on social media against the authorities for not supporting the junior police officials. Action was also taken against four constables in Lucknow and one constable in Bareilly for posting derogatory and objectionable messages and mobilising other cops in joining the protest.
Significantly, three officers in-charge of the thana were transferred for their failure to prevent the protest. Besides the protest, there have been incidents of suicides by police officials, which speak for the tremendous pressure on men in khakhi uniform.
Senior IPS officer Rajesh Shahni, working with UP ATS, killed himself in the office in May 2018. On September 13, a sub-inspector who was only 32 and posted in Gorakhpur committed suicide by hanging from fan in his home at Varanasi. Again on September 26, a woman constable, Anita Singh, allegedly committed suicide by hanging from the ceiling in Kotwali area in Muzaffarnagar. In Kanpur senior IPS Surender Kumar Das died on September 9 after he consumed poison.
In the background of large scale protests and suicides by police officials it is imperative that the Yogi government address the grievances of the police officials. There is no doubt that DGP OP Singh praised the police officials and opened a dialogue with them to address their grievances. He has been instrumental for large scale surprise inspections by senior police officials. But more action is required from top brass of police to contain the anger and frustration in police force. (IPA Service)
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