Police officers in Bihar are in the news, and not for their gallantry but for alleged corruption. Senior IPS officer Alok Kumar, who was posted as the DIG Saran range, has been suspended for allegedly demanding Rs 10 crore as from a liquor merchant of Gopalgunj. This is the first case when a DIG-level officer has been suspended in the state on charges of corruption. Kumar is a 1997-batch officer of the Jammu and Kashmir cadre and was on deputation in Bihar. Before being promoted as the DIG, he was serving as the SSP of Patna.
Kumar got into trouble when the liquor merchant, Tunna ji Pandey, complained of the extortion to the DGP, Bihar. A team was constituted to probe the matter and corroborative evidences were collected when phones of Kumar and his three aides were tapped. “It’s quite surprising that a person of such a questionable character got plum posting like SSP of Patna,” said senior CPI(ML) leader Kamlesh Sharma. “This reflects how corrupt officers are getting government patronage.” One of Kumar’s middlemen was closely related to a leader of ruling party, Sharma alleged.
But this is not an isolated case. In 2012, a young IPS officer and then Sheikhpura Superintendent of Police Ansuiya Ransingh Sahu was suspended on charges of corruption. According to reports, Sahu, a 2006-batch IPS officer, was found guilty of collecting money from people and bootleggers through her bodyguards. There were also charges against her of allowing gambling dens in the district during her six-month posting in the district.
In another case, Babu Ram, SP Sheikhpura, allegedly beat up a 30-year old man Mukesh Kumar who used to work in a liquor shop in a village. Not only he was thrashed severely by the police, but was tortured, as he sustained injuries in his private parts, leading to rupture in the intestine. The victim was shifted to the Patna Medical College Hospital. Later, he was shifted to the AIIMS, New Delhi, for better treatment.
Considering the gravity of the situation, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered the transfer of Babu Ram and ordered a probe. “The regular cases of corruption among officers show the deterioration of values and ethics among the IPS officers. If senior officers indulge in extortion what will happen at the lower level?” asked NK Chaudhary, a senior academician and activist. “This also raises the question on selection and training of All India Services which, at one time, were considered steel frame of administration. They have now failed to win over the confidence of common people,” he rued.
It has been often alleged that the IPS officers in Bihar manufacture false criminal cases against innocent people. It has also been alleged that activists were put behind the bars when they filed RTI application, particularly regarding cases related to corruption in the state. Nitish Kumar government which promises of a different Bihar will do well to tackle the menace and get rid of the stinking rot in the state’s police.