Police escort for ‘wanted’? No more

IGP Singh admits this will pose a problem, but says he won’t back out. ‘‘It is a tricky issue,’’ he says. ‘‘Most of these politicians have been sanctioned one gunman by the government, but many have more than one. We will write to the government regarding this… and request action.’’

The police chief’s order was provoked by the August 28 kidnapping and murder of 25-year-old Ashok Gupta of Hussainganj, in which head constable Mukesh Sharma is believed to have been involved. Sharma had been deployed for the protection of a history-sheeter and gangster Atul Singh who was also involved in the crime.

While Sharma was arrested yesterday, Singh had had enough. ‘‘There have been numerous cases in the past as well where gunners provided to criminals have indulged in crimes themselves…We cannot allow persons having criminal cases pending against them to enjoy police security,’’ the IGP says. ‘‘This simply means these persons will use police security to legitimise their illegal work.’’

Singh adds: ‘‘The threat these persons face is due to their notorious activities and not because of their public functions. I have asked SSP, Lucknow, Kamal Saksena to draw up a list of such persons and withdraw their security.’’

At last count, 1,300 police personnnel of Lucknow Zone were attached as security with almost 800-odd people. Security, official concede, is granted at the drop of a hat by district SPs under political pressure.

Even economically, the police force can hardly afford the indiscriminate security. ‘‘The cost of each such police personnel is nearly Rs 14,000 a month. While one gunman is given free of cost, for another gunman too, the person being provided security has to just pay 10 per cent of the cost to the department. Interestingly, many of the protected persons have even got this 10 per cent cost waived off,’’ IGP Singh adds.