When cops turn outlaws

Within a few months of its reconstitution, the Special Task Force (STF) of the Haryana Police again finds itself in an embarrassing spot. It is more squirming for the force since in 2010, the STF had had to be disbanded following a similar shameful episode. Ten members of the police unit, including an additional SP,  were arrested after having been caught on camera extorting money from a jeweller in Panipat. In déjà vu, three cops have now been suspended following incriminating footage on the camera showing them — in plain clothes — abducting at gunpoint a businessman and extorting Rs 19 lakh from him. 

Considering that the STF has been specially set up with the mandate to check organised crimes in the national capital region (NCR) and for which it has been given men picked on the basis of their service records and competence, the incident is disgraceful. It smashes to smithereens the proud proclamations made by the authorities in January this year that the new STF would net drug dealers, illegal weapons suppliers and inter-state criminal gangs. Stung by the earlier experience, the new force was fortified with a notified standard operating procedure (SOP), mandating proper documentation of its every action. Alas! Bad eggs remain, putting the STF in a tight spot, yet again.

Zero tolerance for the protectors of law who turn into outlaws is warranted. If not the police, who can you trust? Incidentally, Haryana’s Police Complaints Authority, a statutory body formed eight years ago to look into complaints of serious misconduct by police personnel, has been lying defunct for the past four years. The only official posted there, a constable, is helpless as he can do little other than record the complaints. Hundreds of hassled victims knock at the door of the authority every year. Of course, these are minus the many transgressions that are taken as par for course. For example, bribing of cops to get legitimate works done no longer raises any eyebrows, unless involving epic cases. Apparently, there is much to review. Much to rein in. Much trust to win over.