Detection of bombs in cop's house fuels speculation

By Our Staff Reporter

ANANTAPUR, DEC. 12. The finding of three bombs in the residential quarters of an armed reserve police Inspector here and explosion of one of them accidentally last evening have raised several questions, in the wake of alleged bickerings between the men and officers of the armed reserve police. The enquiry instituted into the incident by the Superintendent of Police is expected to answer several questions like how the bombs reached the Inspector's house, what was the intention and so on.

According to police sources, a tussle had been on for long between officers and men over the alleged misadventures by the officers. The officers are said to be harassing and victimising the men who tried to oppose their deeds and expose them. The men even represented to the Home Minister and the DGP over their harassment by the officers. The State president of the AP Police Employees Association, Mr. Mehabub Basha, also said to have gone into the issue recently.

The sources maintained that a few officers were even taking bribe from the men for either postings or transfers as guards to politicians and others. However, there is said to be a lot of resentment among the men over fleecing by their officers. Most of the men posted as guards to politicians who have very high threat to their life generally opt for transfers. The men seeking postings of their choice of politicians are also being allegedly forced to cough up big sums by the officers, it is said.

Some time ago, an officer of the armed reserve police had allegedly charged a few constables with the responsibility for the ``missing'' of a few bullets of AK-47 and other arms. They were said to have been reprimanded by the SP. However, it is said in reality the particular officer was responsible for the missing ammunition.

The police sources also revealed that generally the ``missing ammunition'' is plugged with the ``saving ammunition'' during encounters. The sources explained that each of the men would be given a specified quantity of ammunition during encounters and the men show a higher quantity of exhaustion of ammunition than the real utilisation, to use the ``savings'' to plug the ``missings'' in the hour of need.

A few constables disliked by the officers are being harassed by superiors by marking them absent frequently, even though they are present in their guard duties. They are also being served memos for ``frequent'' absence. Regular memos to the men meant cut or stoppage of increments, it is said.

In the present case, it is being alleged that the finding of the bombs was a ploy by an officer to ``teach a lesson to his detractors among the men'' by charging them for placing the bombs. The men were said to have deposed against the officer during an enquiry into the allegations of harassment by him.

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Section  : Southern States
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