VIJAYAWADA: Prakasam district Superintendent of Police (SP) Siddharth Kaushal suspended a station writer and served show-cause notices on four staff, including the Station House Officer (SHO) of Ongole Taluk police station, for behaving harshly with a trainee IPS officer, who approached them posing as a complainant on Friday.After receiving anonymous complaints against staff of Ongole Taluk police station stating that are not behaving properly with complainants, the SP sent trainee IPS officer P Jagadish in civilian clothing to inspect the station and observe how they are treating complainants.
The complaints proved to be true, as Ongole Taluk police displayed high-handedness, while dealing with Jagadish when he went to the police station to file a cell phone theft case. Dressed up like a young software professional, Jagadish went there around 12 noon on Friday and met station writer K Sudhakar in his room. Sudhakar initially did not respond. Later, he questioned Jagadish regarding the reasons behind his arrival.
Jagadish informed him that he came to Ongole from Bengaluru along with his friends and said that he was stopped by an unidentified miscreant who took his mobile. Instead of showing empathy towards the complainant, the station writer ordered Jagadish to show proof that he was really robbed. He further threatened him of serious action if the complaint proves to be false.
A few minutes later, Sub-inspector (SI) Sambasivayya came to the police station. Hoping that at least he would pay attention to the complaint, Jagadish met the SI and explained the whole incident but in vain. The SI asked him to come in the evening to meet Circle Inspector (CI) M Lakshman.
The trainee IPS officer spent around 45 minutes in the police station. “We are undertaking many people-friendly initiatives to reach the public. When I received complaints regarding impolite behaviour of police, I sent a trainee officer to check the situation. Instead of showing compassion, the writer and constable behaved harshly with Jagadish. Their words will damage the police’s image, resulting in loss of faith in the system,” said the SP.
Following the report submitted by Jagadish, the SP immediately suspended Sudhakar and served notices to CI Lakshman, SI Sambasivayya, head constable P Yedukondalu and constable MV Rajesh.
“We are making sure the police act friendly with the complainants. If anybody is
found violating the rules, the person will be punished severely,” he added.