VIBHA VERMA
PANJIM: Herald’s recent exposes on the rampant State-wide matka racket in connivance with the local police has had an interesting fall out in the capital’s Panjim police station and some other stations. The police department has received transfer requests from around two dozen policemen attached to the Panjim police station wanting to be out of the line of criticism and happy to serve in innocuous police stations, out of the glare of the media.
The discontent has crept through the higher ranks too. Two police inspectors have also expressed unwillingness to continue with their postings at their respective stations, while the two station-in-charges, one of whom was recently promoted, verbally communicated their discomfort to their higher ups. Meanwhile, around 24 police sub-inspectors, hawaldars, and constables sent a written communiqué to their immediate heads citing reluctance to work at the Panjim police station.
The stated reason for their transfer request surge is the suspension of four police personnel in March for alleged links to matka racketeers operating in the capital. The four – head constables Ulhas Khot and Apa Parab, and constables Annasaheb Prabhudesai and Sanjay Hullur – were shunted to other police stations after the entire Panjim police department protested their suspension. Some decided to shift from their present place of posting “to stay away from allegations of underperformance or links with offenders”.
On the condition of anonymity, a senior officer said, “The manner in which the four, HCs and PCs, were suspended was not taken well by the staffers. If the department was dissatisfied with their efforts to crackdown on matka gambling, a show cause notice could have been issued instead of just suspending them.”
The transfer request applications have not received any response from the headquarters as senior officers claim it could portray a bad image of the disciplined force.
Herald accessed a few letters that clearly stated discouragement to work under extreme pressure and for often being suspected of a criminal nexus. To increase their requests weight, some mentioned they were posted at the station for eight to ten years and as such, relocating them was justified. Police Inspector Rajendra Prabhudesai himself was posted there for over three years.
Sources in the HQ told Herald that the Panjim police station had moved over 12 note sheets in the last three years to the top officials informing about the difficulties it was enduring and its fear of being charged for any inaction.
“Time and again it has been brought to the notice of superiors about the various difficulties faced in running the Panjim police station through note sheets. It is on record that (the) staff is not giving willingness to work at police station,” reads an extract, adding, “Considering the hectic bandobast schedule and routine day-to-day challenges of duties, court matters and litigations, proactive policing is hampered badly.”
What’s more interesting is that their unwillingness to serve at the Panjim police station was brought up before SP Priyanka Kashyap, who is conducting an inquiry involving the four suspended policemen.
“They are (already) exposed for allegations of non-action, non-quality working, and may face litigation before the human rights commission. But I cannot do proactive policing and cannot overburden my staff,” PI Prabhudesai reportedly submitted to Kashyap in response to the inquiry stating that it was not possible for his overburdened staff to focus on cracking down on matka rackets, especially when they are facing other allegations.
Senior police officers, while unofficially admitting the problem at the Panjim police station, refused to go on record and state how they were going to respond to this.
