KOCHI: Admitting that back-to-back custodial deaths have severely dented the image of police, state police chief Loknath Behera said the department will bring amendments to procedures to terminate the services of the accused within 30 days and to hold senior police officers legally responsible for custodial deaths taking place in their jurisdiction.
“Actions of a few policemen have brought shame to the department. The current procedure followed against policemen involved in cases of such nature are highly time-consuming and it offers a lot of loopholes. Hence, we are going to change the departmental process followed now, keeping in mind the accused also get the opportunity to make their stand clear,” Behera told Express.
He said junior-level policemen should show the courage and audacity to say no to directions from their senior officers if it is against the rules.
“Right from the training period, we constantly direct policemen to abide by the rules,” Behera said. A high-level meeting of police officials has been scheduled on Monday to discuss the modalities for bringing changes to the departmental procedure. “Once we finalise the amendments, we will take it up with the state government for approval,” added Behera.
He said though the department had put in place a couple of systemic changes, including installation of CCTV cameras in cells and other spots to check police brutality, a few police personnel continue to break the system and resort to illegal activities by either switching off the camera or opting for a remote corner on the station premises to assault the accused.