Policemen cleaning the toilets, mopping the floor and making arrangements for a private event. A secret video filmed by a group of cops in Karnataka highlighted the blatant harassment of junior staff by senior officers.
The Bangalore Mirror published pictures showing policemen mopping the floor of a community hall prior to its inauguration. These cops work under HS Venkatesh, deputy inspector general of police, Railways in Karnataka and the hall is owned by him.
DIG’s subordinates alleged that he regularly deputed his station staffers for personal work at the community hall and temple that he owns. Bad behaviour and abuse were an everyday feature. Constables were even suspended if they did not serve food properly at the temple.
Since the news report came to light, DIG HS Venkatesh has been removed from his current posting. In a meeting held to discuss the 4 June police strike by hundreds of lower rank policemen in Karnataka, the Chief Minister came down heavily on senior officials regarding mistreatment of constabulary and lower-rank cops.
A senior police officer present at the meeting said:
‘What actually goes on in the police department? Who are these constables in uniform and for whom are they working like this? Who is the officer who has ordered them to do this work in a private place’, the CM furiously asked the chief secretary and the state police chief. The CM ordered immediate action and a detailed enquiry into the incident.
The video was shot by constables ahead of a three-day function, which began on 29 April, at the hall in Anjanapura. DIG Venkatesh employed several policemen to make arrangements for the event the previous day.
Bangalore Mirror quoted one of the policemen saying;
He harasses us a lot. He makes us work like servants, and stops at nothing. He shouts at us for the smallest things in office. For the last five days, he has made all policemen do all the cleaning, including the bathrooms. We have been made to work late nights to prepare and clean the hall for the three-day programme he had organised. He even uses us for work at his farmhouse in Tumakuru.
The CM has demanded a fact-finding report on the incident stating that the official’s act merely added fuel to the fire being stoked by police personnel calling for the June 4 protest.
DIG Venkatesh however has denied the allegations.
I did not call any of my police staff to clean the premises. It is true that a temple and wedding hall were inaugurated. I heard that some policemen came and worked here for me. I have to check who they are.
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