BY AMRESH PARAB | NT
PANAJI: Police personnel will now have to be careful about their approach and behaviour with the public as any complaint of misconduct or any wrongdoing can affect their promotion prospects.
The vigilance cell of Goa police will maintain all such records of every policeman that will be taken into consideration at the time of promotion.
Apart from behaviour, the vigilance cell will also maintain a secret list of other complaints against police personnel including corruption-related complaints.
“Service record of police personnel such as conduct with the public and issues pertaining to corruption will be maintained as a secret list by the vigilance cell which will be taken into account at the time of promotion,” said inspector general of police Sunil Garg.
According to Garg, the message is quite clear to the police personnel, “Do good job, you will be rewarded and if found involved in any wrongdoing strict action will be taken.”
He said policemen should be approachable and be good with public and the tourists visiting the state.
Last week, the Goa police disbanded the local intelligence branch owing to allegations of corruption after the crime branch registered an FIR against police constable Melvin Cardoz who was attached with the LIB of Porvorim police station.
The FIR was registered following a police inquiry into the complaint by a tourist that Cardoz had extorted ` 10,000. The tourist had sent the complaint via email to former chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who in turn forwarded it to Garg.
This also prompted the Goa police to launch an email complaint service – goapolice.vigilance@nic.in – and also a 24-hour helpline 7030100000 requesting the public to report incidents of extortion and corruption by policemen.
The complaint service will be monitored by the vigilance cell of Goa police which is headed by DIG K K Vyas.
“We received a couple of complaints via email mentioning names of police personnel allegedly involved in corruption. Some are of anonymous nature but we are looking into them. However, I would request people not to hesitate in reporting any wrongdoing to us. Confidentiality will be maintained and a strict action will be taken,” Garg said.
He said many people are unaware of the complaint service, requesting the public to make utmost use of it.
“People have appreciated the steps undertaken by the Goa police against corruption but still many people are unaware of it. I must mention that not all policemen are corrupt, but there must be few and they will be taken to task,” Garg maintained.