Criminal acts of UP cops in plain clothes

LUCKNOW: Did you know that whenever there’s an abduction in which a few armed SUV-borne men pick up their prey, a common reaction is that it could be cops from the Special Operations Group (SOG) or the crime branch of the Lucknow police? Some cops from these wings seem to rewrite the law as they go around committing crime in the name of crime prevention. Such is the clout enjoyed by these cops — most of whom are from the non-gazetted cadre —that they have continued in SOGs and Lucknow crime branch even after the change in government, notwithstanding their notoriety. Today, most cops in crime branch, a wing that should ideally have hand-picked honest and effective personnel, are tainted. Those whose corrupt practices made news during the last regime have managed to land postings here. SOGs attached to the ASPs and circle officers of the district were dissolved a fortnight ago, primarily due to this reason. A sub-inspector posted in crime branch has been jailed earlier for dereliction of duty. He is known to land lucrative postings and has been in the crime branch for sometime despite some complaints of high-handedness. Similarly, an inspector posted in the same wing is said to have made a lot of property by using his power. He is known to have good connections with some property dealers who help him zero in on a property. And the sub-inspector posted with one of the SOGs — whose services were terminated after he was caught by Kolkata police a fortnight ago — also had a blemished record. There are numerous cases that illustrate the wrong-doings of the cops posted in these special wings. They have been accused of all money-making crimes under the sun —be it land grabbing, forcefully taking away a financed four-wheeler on behalf of a finance company, siphoning off money paid as ransom to a gang of abductors, forcing jewellers to part with gems and expensive jewellery, especially in cases where they failed to produce a proper bill, taking money from drug peddlers and so on. Cases of SOG and crime branch personnel working in connivance with property dealers and land mafias are well-known to need any mention. As for forcefully taking away a financed car from the owner, SSP BP Jogdand had to order crime branch personnel to release a Tata Qualis they had forcefully taken to their office in Gomtinagar in August. Similarly, in a case of abduction early this year from trans-Gomti area, cops had allegedly recovered most of the ransom money, about Rs 17 lakh, according to sources, after shooting down an abductor but did not disclose the fact. The case came to light when the abducted man was killed by the abductors in Jaunpur, after which his son took the matter to the then principal secretary (home). The matter is still to be probed. The gold loot case in which five crime branch personnel were involved in looting two gold dealers of Kanpur, is still fresh in public memory. The men were terminated from service after the press put pressure on the police to solve the case. A few years back some khoya businessmen of the city were forced to part with money by crime branch. The then SSP had recovered the money and returned it back to the rightful owners in front of the press. Knowledgeable sources say that if senior officials are concerned about making crime branch an effective and honest body, they will have to purge it from top to bottom. Else, it will continue to function as a law unto itself. And may ultimately meet the same fate that befell the SOGs of ASPs and COs.