When cops needed policing

The incident led to a massive shake-up of the police administration at all levels, starting from the DGP, and a committee headed by a senior police official has already submitted an internal report in which 56 more personnel, including two sub-inspectors, have been identified, sources said.

Two Home Guard personnel have been dismissed and 10 including two sub-inspectors were suspended with action expected against those who figure in the internal report submitted by SSP Sindhu Pillai.

8220;The situation is normal at present8230; The central forces have been deployed only as a contingency measure,8221; said CM Vaithilingam to The Indian Express.

Added Home Minister E Valsaraj: 8220;The Government is viewing this incident as a spontaneous outburst of emotions and not as any planned protest. Even though we are taking strict and immediate action against the personnel who have found to have erred, we also need to look into the circumstances that led to the incident, as well as the measures to be taken to prevent a repeat in the future.8221;

The incident began when the Puducherry Principal District and Sessions Court refused bail to a sub-inspector caught red-handed by the CBI while collecting bribe money from an advocate, even as it released the co-accused advocate on bail. The personnel who gathered at the court premises staged a protest, demanding that both the accused should be treated similarly by the court.

The administration has swung into action, handing out swift punishments to the personnel against whom there is photographic and other evidence. Apart from the suspensions, transfers and showcause notices issued so far, more action is expected in the coming days.

However, this has not gone down well within the constable-rank personnel. 8220;There is a feeling at the lower level that the judge was not right in remanding the police official even as it left the advocate out on bail, though both were charged under the same case,8221; said a constable.

A senior police official, who did not want to be quoted, said that the judiciary erred in treating the policeman and advocate differently, while the force erred in its response. 8220;It was a foolish act on the part of our men; two wrong acts do not lead to a right solution. Policemen are working under severe pressure, though this cannot be cited as a justification for the incident. Men in uniform simply cannot be emotional, whatever the circumstances,8221; he said.

The episode has also made senior officials take a re-look at the training being imparted to the personnel. Senior officials added that the perennial woes faced by the police, including infrastructure and equipment shortage, would be addressed.