Bhopal, May 12: The state cops have earned a dubious distinction of topping the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compilation of criminal cases against police personnel in the country. It accounted for 35.4 per cent of total complaints. And when comparative rate of complaints per 100 policemen has been computed, the state again stood first with a share of 29.1 per cent in total complaints.
The NCRB, of late released the data for 2006, which indicated the highhanded behaviour of the cops in the state. A total of 62,822 complaints were reported in the country against Police Personnel during the year 2006. The state accounted for 35.4 per cent with 22,224 cases reported against its cops followed by Andhra Pradesh with 9.4 percent complaints, Delhi with 8.5 per cent and Maharashtra with 8.2 per cent. A total of 5,896, 5,360 and 5,159 complaints were reported against the cops in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Maharashtra respectively.
The records made available by the NCRB also enumerated action taken against the cops on receiving such complaints. As per the records, enquiries were instituted in 16,228 cases including departmental enquiries in 15,510 cases, magisterial enquiries in 423 cases and judicial enquiries in 295 cases. As many as 34,657 of total complaints were either not substantiated or found false. Data also suggested that the highhandedness of the cops increased by 2 per cent as compared to previous year when the total number of complaints was 61,560. Out of total alleged tainted cops, 3,062 were sent for trials. While, cases against 133 police personnel were either withdrawn or disposed off, only 24 were convicted by the court leading to acquittal of 70 cops. Strength of cops is 114 per lakh in the state, which is considerably low in comparison to the national average of 126 and this could be attributed to the higher rate of complaints against the cops in the state.