Apple executive Vivek Tiwari’s shooting by the Uttar Pradesh Police on the night of September 29, 2018, is the latest incident in the long list of police malpractices and excesses.
Not long back, the police were accused of hiring shooters to force a woman cop into submission. There have been several instances of cops framing innocents, being involved in supari killings, looting traders, extorting gold from bullion dealers, thrashing hotel owners for denying freebies and other counts that include expressing ‘love’ to a woman constable inside the police station. Pressure from the media and social organisations notwithstanding, old habits die hard and the cops never seem to learn a lesson.
On September 19, 2006, five policemen were terminated from service for executing the infamous gold loot case in Ashiyana. They had targeted a bullion dealer from Kanpur who was coming to Lucknow for business. One of the cops is said to be serving a mafia-turned politician in East UP.
On May 12, 2013, then Lucknow SSP J Ravindra Gaud had dissolved the Lucknow Police Crime Branch which had raided the workshop of a businessman dealing in the manufacturing of gutkha in Gudamba, demanding Rs 10 lakh as extortion money.
In 2013, the murder of teenager Maj in Indira Nagar under the Ghazipur Police Station shook the State capital after it surfaced that the then inspector Sanjay Rai was instrumental in the crime. Rai allegedly had developed a fancy for a woman cop who happened to be Maj’s relative. To force the cop into submission, Rai allegedly hired shooters using his links in the underworld to execute the crime. Following the revelation, Rai’s services were terminated by Gaud. Rai was also accused of confronting the SSP, after his termination order. The case is under way.
In 2017, Saadatganj trader Shrawan Sahu was killed even though he pleaded his case with the then SSP Manzil Sani seeking protection from police. Shrawan was pursuing the murder case of his son Akash, who was killed by Aquil of Old Lucknow. Aquil had a good rapport with a cop and some sleuths of the Crime Branch. He orchestrated Shrawan’s arrest by the Para-Police to stop the latter from pursuing the case. Aquil accused Shrawan of hiring shooters for his murder. Shrawan was interrogated by then circle officer Anita Singh. Later, when the media highlighted the issue, the cops let him off. Within a month, Shrawan was peppered with bullets in his shop. As many as 14 cops were punished. Services of constable Dheerendra Yadav of Para-Police Station and constable Anil Singh of the Crime Branch were terminated. Both are now absconding.
The list of crimes by the Police in the State Capital is never-ending. In 2013, a man died in police custody at the Hasanganj Police Station. The then SSP claimed that the man had committed suicide as he feared a police action in a case against him. There are instances in which the then SO, Aliganj, was accused of expressing ‘love’ to a woman constable at the police station. A former reserve inspector was also accused on the same count in the past. In 2017, an eunuch murder case suspect Kamruddin of PGI, died in the police custody after being beaten mercilessly.
Then SSP Deepak Kumar shunted out the then Ashiyana SHO after a month of the controversy. A sub-inspector and some policemen were named in the case. On November 2017, Kumar ordered the suspension of three constables for beating up a hotel owner who dared to deny freebies to them. The suspension was later rescinded.