PANJIM: The constable, charged with leaking classified information to a social worker, has spelt further trouble for himself as the department has caught him drafting political messages on behalf of a person intending to contest an election.
The constable, attached with Special Branch, Panjim, along with a police sub-inspector deputed at Panjim police station have been slapped with a disciplinary enquiry for illegally sourcing information about the location of social activist Tara Kerkar and leaking it in public domain.
With their acts leaving the disciplined force red-faced, sources said that the police brass had earlier this week initiated an internal inquiry that recommended action against the two police personnel. The department has thus instituted disciplinary enquiry.
A senior officer at police headquarters disclosed that the PSI feigned ignorance on the constable’s intention behind seeking location and call details of Kerkar. The constable intentionally leaked these details to the social worker who then uploaded these on social media.
It has also come to the fore that the constable helped the social worker draft political comments on various issues concerning the State and shared to her by WhatsApp. These texts were thereafter posted by the social workers on WhatsApp as her own views.
“We scanned through WhatsApp messages of the constable and found he was in regular touch with the social worker. He also drafted political comments and sent her via WhatsApp. She further circulated these comments as her own views on WhatsApp and other social platforms. He thus misused the department in an attempt to boost her political ambitions and give her mileage in the media fraternity,” the source said. The constable is also a ‘passive member’ of a WhatsApp group formed by the social worker.
While the PSI so far has no role to play in the exchange of WhatsApp texts between the constable and the social worker, the department has pulled him up for agreeing to the constable’s verbal request to track the location and call details of Kerkar.
“Although the mobile number was not involved in any crime registered and investigated by the PSI, he sourced the crucial information and shared with the constable. The PSI should have acted as a responsible officer to analyse why this request was being made. He should have been cautious rather than hurriedly extracting Kerkar’s mobile details without the knowledge of his superiors,” the source said.
