The Bihar Police brass on Thursday ordered an FIR (first information report) to be lodged under against Nawada’s superintendent of police (SP) Gaurav Mangala under the stringent Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, for allegedly confining five policemen into lock-up for around two hours a week ago on grounds of lack of performance, officials said.
Additional director general (ADG) of police (weaker section) Anil Kishore Yadav on Thursday wrote to inspector general (IG) of police (Magadh Range) Vinay Kumar to ensure that an FIR is lodged against Nawada SP under the SC/ST Act within seven days and a compliance report submitted to him.
Of the five policemen allegedly locked up, three come from SC/ST community.
According to Yadav’s letter, which has been seen by HT, the general secretary of Bihar Police Association (BPA), Kapileshwar Paswan, 14 met him on September and requested action in the case.
The ADG said in his letter that the allegation against the SP was found true prima facie.
Mangala, apparently dissatisfied with the performance of two sub-inspectors, Ram Parikha Singh and Sanjay Kumar Singh, and three assistant sub-inspectors, Santosh Kumar Paswan, Rameshwar Uraon and Satrughan Paswan, had put them inside a lock-up for two hours on September 8.
A video clip of the policemen purportedly inside the lock-up has been circulating on the social media.
Later, BPA president Mrityunjay Kumar Singh visited Nawada and collected details about the incident.
“This is the first incident of its kind in the state and it has tarnished the image of Bihar Police in public. The role of junior officers/constables and those in the field is immense in establishing the rule of law in the society. If the SP behaves against the law, the morale of the force is bound to be affected and the policemen cannot discharge their duty. What the SP has done is grossly illegal and against the government order,” the association said in a statement.
Meanwhile, in a Facebook post, Mangla conceded he had issued show cause notice against the policemen for dereliction of duty.
He, however, did not respond to calls and messages for a comment on the issue.
Asked if Mangla could face arrest under the SC/ST Act, a police officer familiar with the matter said the sections to be applied in the case were bailable.
