Bapi Sen, and some questions

Senior police officials have said that the accused constables had actually consumed liquor at the barrack itself before waking up a taxi driver to go for a late night round of the city. Independent inquiries by The Indian Express confirmed that drinking binges in police barracks are the rule rather than the exception. The mandatory roll-call is a farce with force members having proxy arrangements in place.

Informed sources say that the night roll-call should normally be supervised by an inspector. The rule is observed more in violations. ‘‘Any surprise check will reveal the discrepancy between what’s recorded in the register and what’s on the ground,’’ says a constable staying in a barrack.

Many of the policemen don’t stay in the barracks though they are enlisted in the register. In most barracks the constables have codified identities like ‘‘barrack party’’ and ‘‘basha (house) party.’’ These denote those who do stay in the barracks and those who stay at their houses illegally. The list of such irregularities are endless.

The rot that begins from declining discipline and professionalism manifests in the streets. Bapi Sen’s case is not an isolated one. Kolkattans haven’t forgotten the scandalous case of a pavement-dweller being picked up by cops and then raped inside a thana.

One also recalls with horror how the rank and file deserted a deputy commissioner to be butchered by a frenzied mob in the Kolkata port area. Recently, a deaf and dumb girl was raped inside a police van, and then attempts were made to cover up until the court stepped in. The list is endless.

The cancer has gone deeper than it appears, admit senior serving as well as former police officers. The decline in standard, in the command structure has much to do with political interference and laxity at the individual level of senior officers.

While the problems may be common with other forces in the country, what makes policing in West Bengal and Kolkata different from others is the right to form associations by police in the state. Retired DGPs and Commissioners of Police point out that though this right may be enshrined in other states too, in Bengal this has assumed a different dimension altogether under the decades-old Left rule.

A retired Kolkata police officer recalls how the rank and file openly abused superior officers in open rallies inside the police headquarters at Lalbazar in the presence of the then chief minister Jyoti Basu. Even a police commissioner was heckled inside the HQ and the culprits went unpunished. Yet another police commissioner who didn’t approve of the Government’s patronage to police union leaders and objected to ‘‘unionbazi,’’ had to leave unceremoniously.

But senior leaders have contributed their bit too, paving way for rampant indiscipline with their conduct. Many of them engaged constables as personal servants who took children to schools, played the role of cooks in bungalows and attended to various other household chores. Similarly, there were gross misuse of official vehicles for private use. ‘‘The police association leaders began to use these as a handle and exact a price for each violation,’’ says A.P. Mukherjee, former DGP of Bengal and an officer on special duty in the Union Home Ministry under the United Front government. ‘‘The union leaders too began to requisition vehicles. To cover up from their own part, senior officers turned a blind eye and bought peace. It virtually destroyed the command structure, hierarchy and discipline. It encouraged corruption,’’ says Mukherejee.

Mukherjee and others senior bureaucrats believe that the answer probably lies in the recommendations of the Police Commission whose principal thrust is on delinking police from political control. But, trust the politicians to join hands at times of crisis. The Right and the Left seem to be menacingly alike in ensuring that the recommendation doesn’t come alive.