Explained: The training centre in Gujarat treated as ‘punishment posting’ for IPS officers

Officers posted

The post has seen a good number of IPS officers who were in the spotlight as incumbents, usually after they went against the establishment.

Agarwal, a 1991-batch IPS officer who was posted as Rajkot police commissioner in 2018, is the first officer of the rank of ADGP to occupy this position of principal of the SRPTC meant for a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police rank officer, which was upgraded to accommodate him. He was transferred around 10 days after ADGP (training) Vikas Sahay submitted an inquiry report on the corruption charges to the government.

The State Reserve Police Training Centre at Junagadh. (Source: Instagram/SRPTC)

At Rajkot, Agarwal commanded a force of more than 1,300 police personnel, including two IPS officers, and will now supervise a group of around 100 personnel at the SRPTC. They include two deputy superintendent of police (DySP) rank officers, a couple of police inspectors, a few police sub-inspectors (PSIs) and some constables who work as instructors.

The last batch of police constable trainees passed out from this training centre in July last year and since then, barracks and vast parade ground have largely remained lifeless. “Though those posted at the training centre and living on the campus are like a close-knit family, the centre remains live when some batch is undergoing training. Currently, recruitment of PSI and constables is on and we are hopeful of getting a batch of trainees in coming months,” says the officer.

Most officers posted as principal of the SRPTC don’t live on the campus, but in the official residence in Junagadh city.  “The principal’s job involves more of administrative work. Therefore, it is like fixed working hours here. People serving here can draw a schedule for routine life and can follow it without any breach, something not possible in any other police setup,” the officer adds.

Satish Verma, a 1986-batch officer who is currently posted as Inspector General of Police, CRPF at Coimbatore, was posted here from 2005-6. This was soon after he, as DIG (Border Range) and member of the Supreme Court directed committee to review closed riot cases, had ordered the arrest of then BJP MLA Shankar Chaudhary for alleged murder in a 2002 riot case.

Rajnish Rai, from the 1992 batch, was posted here in 2008 after a stint as DIG  CID (Crime) where, under his supervision, three IPS officers—DG Vanzara, Rajkumar Pandian and Dinesh MN—were arrested in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. Rai stayed here till June 2010, till he proceeded on study leave. “I stayed on the campus as long as I was posted and never went to Junagadh city,” Rai says.

Rai continues to fight a legal battle with the government which placed him under suspension after refusing him voluntary retirement in November 2018 and followed it up with a charge-sheet. Rai is now an assistant professor at the IIM-A even as the official IPS Civil list shows him as deputed to the Centre. He was last posted as Director General of CRPF in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, when he applied for voluntary retirement.

Sanjiv Bhatt, from the 1988 batch of IPS, who was dismissed from service in 2018 and convicted in a 29-year-old custodial death case in 2019, was posted at the Choki when he was placed under suspension in 2011. Deposing before the Nanavati Mehta commission, Bhatt had claimed he was present in the meeting after the Godhra train burning on February 27, 2002 where allegedly the then chief minister Narendra Modi had said “let Hindus vent their anger”.

The post has seen a good number of IPS officers who were in the spotlight as incumbents, usually after they went against the establishment. (Source: Instagram/SRPTC)

Scope expanded

The training centre in Choki, which had a capacity to train some 350 members of the constabulary, now has a capacity to train 600 trainees at a time. A typical training course for constables lasts for nine months and those for sub-inspectors for a year.

In recent times, the principals have less creative space when it comes to training. “Since Vikas Sahay took over as the additional director general police (training), training course in all the five training centres in the state has been made uniform. Training modules have also more or less been harmonised. Therefore, the training centres are now operating in a manner much similar to affiliate colleges of a university,” said another officer.

The location

Set up in 1977, the SRPTC is around 20 km north of Junagadh city on the border of Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary (GWLS) and about 300 km from Ahmedabad, the political nerve centre of Gujarat. It is one of the five training centres of the Gujarat Police, the other four being Police Training College (PTC) in Junagadh city, Police Training School (PTS) in Vadodara city, Gujarat Police Academy in Karai on the outskirts of Gandhinagar and the Commando Training Centre in Khalal village in Kheda district, all of which are under Sahay. Located on the eastern side of the National Highway 8D and facing Choki as the village of around 4000 residents is called, the training centre is surrounded by agricultural farms on three sides.

The lives of those posted at this training centre moves at a slow pace. “This facility is far away from hustle and bustle of city life or the routine life of a police station or the office of the head of a police district. This is an academic institute, quite distinct from normal policing setups. It’s about training new recruits rather than commanding a force. So, it is quite obvious for high-ranking officers coming from police districts to initially feel that life has come to a standstill,” an officer at the training centre says, adding, “But generally, principals get a hang of things here in three-four months and develop a liking for this place.”

An employee at the SRPTC claims Asiatic lions straying out of the forest “are a common sight”. “Many times, we have heard them roar in agricultural fields beyond the perimeter wall of our centre at night. In recent years, lots of facilities have been added here and the campus has turned into a green zone,” said an employee.

Agarwal is reported to have an interest in wildlife and had gone on a guided birding trip at Nyari dam once while he was posted in Rajkot.

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