Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday took senior police officers to task on serious shortcomings in the department. During a four-hour marathon discussion with the officials at the State Police headquarters, the CM asked many tough questions and demanded answers from them.
Siddaramaiah first gave a patient hearing to the presentations by senior police officers before he started quoting instances from his own experience. Known for his blunt speaking, he began with questions like: “Can organised crime take place without the knowledge of the police?” This was followed up with a specific question to City Police commissioner Jyothiprakash Mirji: “Can a live band run without the knowledge of the circle inspector, ACP and DCP?”
He stated a few home truths: “Charity begins at home. If I am corrupt, how can I preach honesty to others? It has come to my notice that police stations have turned into real estate settlement centres. Real estate business is prospering because police officers are involved. Don’t be friendly with people who have a criminal background.”
He quoted an incident which demanded an answer from ADGP (prisons) K V Gagandeep. Siddaramaiah, as deputy CM in 2004, had ensured the arrest of a notorious bootlegger from Kamaripet in Hubli. The accused, who had political clout, allegedly threatened Siddaramaiah.
“The bootlegger was shifted to Gulbarga prison and from there, he started calling me on a mobile phone. When life in the prison is as free as the outside world, why do we have prisons?” the CM asked, adding that jammers had to be placed since prison officials were “unable” to stop mobiles getting into prisons and instead actively colluded with prisoners to smuggle in banned substances.
