Police dept. working comes under fire

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, SEPT. 15. The functioning of the Police department was flayed by Congress and BJP members in the Assembly on Friday. The House took up discussion simultaneously on various demands including police administration, jails administration, pensions, stationery and printing, fire services and accounts and other fiscal services.

Accusing the police of acting as an agent of the TDP, Mr.N. Raghuveera Reddy of the Congress said the department had mastered the act of ``ruthlessly curbing '' every democratic form of dissent to please its political masters. Police handling of the agitation against the power tariff hike was proof enough of the department's commitment to the ruling party, he said.

He said the Government was defending the police action against the agitationists on August 28 by taking shelter behind the plea that there were no plastic bullets and that water canons had no water. Instead, it should have ordered a judicial enquiry into the firing.

There was no place for honest and sincere officials in the department and only those who were either servile or served the interests of the ruling party continued to occupy key posts for long times. Removal of gunmen given to Congress leaders in Rayalaseema but continuing the same facility for TD leaders was yet another proof of the ``machinations '' of the TDP, he said.

The Congress welcomed the Government's move in this regard initially but now had realised that this measure was adopted only to encourage criminal elements of the ruling party, he said. He accused the Government of turning a blind eye to the existence of private armies in Rayalaseema and asked whether the Government had legalised them. Likewise, ``Telugu Sena ''was filled with criminals who carried badges signed by MLAs.

``Sena '' members were interfering in local disputes and settling issues in favour of those who bribed them. Law and order was worsening and contractors could not file tenders without being intimidated, he said. He asked the Home Minister to make public the names of MLAs involved in forcefully snatching away tenders.

Increased circulation of fake currency, trafficking in girls and sale of babies were just a few examples of police failures. The efforts of the TDP leaders to woo Kola Krishna Mohan, the ``Euro Lottery'' winner, into the party some time ago

and formation of ``Maitri Sanghams'' with criminals reflected the attitude of the Government which amounted to aiding and abetting crime directly or indirectly, he said.

He blamed the ruling party of utilising the Intelligence wing for keeping a watch on party MLAs rather than the work they were supposed to do. The proliferation of bogus seed and pesticide companies was another failure. Honest officials were given insignificant postings or given no postings for long periods while the corrupt enjoyed key positions, he said.

He referred to the growing atrocities on Dalits and said police were doing nothing to curb it. However, his reference to Dr.K.Siva Prasada Rao in the bomb blast incident at Narasaraopet some time ago drew protests from the member who said there was a CBI enquiry into it and Mr. Reddy was unnecessarily dragging his name.

Mr. Prem Singh Rathod of the BJP said a majority of police officials were dishonest and the rich could get away with any crime. Instead of helping the victims, the department was soft on thieves. It had failed in taking firm action against anti- nationals and allowed the ISI activities to spread throughout the State. Despite the fact that the Intelligence Wing had prepared a list of 10 most corrupt officials, very little had been done to either make the names public or take action against them.

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Section  : Southern States
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