The rot in the Karnataka police force has deepened under the current regime. Suicides by two DySPs in quick succession and resignation of a woman officer of the same rank in frustration are an indication of this. It was only about a month back that the government and the police bosses had to use coercion and under-hand tactics to foil what would have been an unprecedented show of protest by the frustrated constabulary. Instead of addressing the problems, the government resorted to intimidation to prevent the mass protest leave.
Police officers and constables talk about how they have to pay to get postings and continue to pay to stay in the post. The system itself is so corrupt that officers with any honesty left in them find it suffocating. There is constant pressure, from both political bosses and departmental seniors. Chikmagaluru DySP Kallappa Handibag committed suicide on July 5 after he was accused of extortion, but his family blamed pressure from senior officers. Another DySP, M K Ganapathy, posted in Mangaluru, hanged himself two days later, after giving an interview to a TV channel, in which he accused two senior officers and minister K J George of harassment. For the record, the government has ordered a CID probe into his death. Two back-to-back suicides and pressure from political parties meant it had no other option. But it’s most likely that the two officers and the minister will face no action.
The police force in the state is handled in an unusual way. Though the department comes under the home ministry, there is talk that the Home Minister is not too happy about the influence wielded by Kempaiah, a retired police officer who was made adviser in the ministry by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. It’s an arrangement that has not worked for the force. The government will do well to take corrective steps immediately if it wants to set right the system, apart from bringing out the truth behind officers’ deaths.