A former Additional Inspector-General of Police, PK Siddharth, has lodged a criminal case with the Daltonganj police station relating to poor conditions in a backward minority girls’ hostel.
Confirming this Siddharth said, “I lodged this FIR on July 16”. He held a press briefing on Thursday afternoon and gave the details.
Interestingly, the FIR (The Pioneer has a copy of the FIR) did not mention Bharatiya Suraaj Dal in his address, of which he is the president but only as the former Additional IG of police. Siddharth is the chief of the Suraaj Dal and the FIR is related to his toilet cleaning campaign here in Daltonganj. The reason is not far to seek. His being a former Addl IG of police will add more teeth to his FIR so lodged.
The case has been registered under number 301/14. The police have used 409 section of the IPC. But for the police this FIR will be a pain in the neck as Siddharth in the complainant has not mentioned the name of any accused not even the department, leaving this onerous task to the police to investigate and proceed under the law.
Its highly deplorable condition has prompted this former additional IG of police to pursue the case legally by way of lodging the FIR. It so happened that on July 15 he and his team including Gokul Basant, Shabbir, Sher Khan, Aloke Verma, Manjit Singh Chamar, Rakesh Singh were on the toilet cleaning drive when a batch of inmates of the girls’ hostel approached them and narrated how they live under fear of the hostel’s roof coming over them any time.
Siddharth said the roof is giving way. Its iron bars are open. The building is in a highly precarious condition. It was readied in 2003 and in 2014 it stands unliveable and is fraught with dangers every moment. This is a case of blatant corruption in its construction and hence a cognizable offence so he lodged the FIR as he said defending himself in response to a query that he would have sat there on dharna and this would have gathered more momentum than this FIR which will consume a long time before the police will be able to find out the persons right from officials posted here in 2003 to its executing agency of that period.
He cited an instance when a ceiling fan of a room of this hostel came upon a girl inmate.
Siddharth said the lokayukta was also approached to inquire into this case of corruption in the construction of this hostel but the decision to lodge the FIR was agreed upon when a member of Suraaj Dal, an ex-Maoist, prevailed upon to take this FIR recourse.