Bihar: 175 Police Constables Dismissed as Protests Erupt over Death of Policewoman

Around 167 trainee constables were among the 175 cops who were taken off duty citing “disciplinary” action in Patna on November 3 following the protests against deplorable working conditions in the police force, which reportedly took the life of a 22 year-old policewoman Savita Pathak.

Nearly half of the dismissed trainee constables are women. The suspended personnel include a head constable and two others who had the responsibility of assigning duties to trainees. Inspector General (IG) of Police, Patna zone, N. H. Khan also ordered the dismissal of eight other police officers. In addition, 27 havildars and constables have been put under suspension on charges of negligence and misconduct.

The trainee constables alleged that Savita Pathak had sought leave on medical grounds from Sergeant Major for her treatment which was denied. On Thursday November 1, while the deceased was on duty, her condition deteriorated and she was rushed to a private hospital where she died a day later. Following her death, the protest of trainee constables allegedly went out of control on Friday, leading to clashes between the police force.

Avdhesh Singh, CPI(M) state secretary in Bihar said, “The incident has shed light on the deplorable working conditions the female constables were subjected to- inappropriate working hours, abusive behavior, lack of food, etc.” He added, “This was not a reactionary response of the police constables but a systemic failure that had been building up for a long time.”

Police Constables Dismissed without Due Process

This is the first time that an action on such a scale has been taken against the constables. The women constables had been recruited as part of the chief minister’s quota scheme for women in Bihar government jobs. Singh pointed out, “The way the police persons have been dismissed is absolutely undemocratic and barbaric. Due procedure should have been followed, wherein a committee should have been constituted to take cognisance of the demands of the police persons. Instead, all due processes have been compromised and they were simply dismissed. Ye toh in afsaron ki afsar shahi ka namuna hai. (This is a perfect example of the abuse of power by the higher ups).”

Four FIRs (First Information Report) have been lodged in connection with the incident. “One of the FIRs was lodged by Mohammad Masaluddin, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in charge of the police line, who was assaulted and chased to his residence by a mob that ransacked his house and misbehaved with his family members,” Khan was quoted as saying by the Indian Express. He denied the allegations leveled by the agitators that the deputy SP was responsible for Pathak’s death. The first FIR was lodged on the complaint of Manoj Mohan, Station House Officer of the Buddha Colony Police Station, while the second was registered on the complaint of Mohammed Masaluddin DSP/Sergeant Major of Patna police lines.

Over 900 newly recruited constables — 300 of them women — are undergoing training in the state capital. According to them, they had been barely trained for 5-10 days before being deputed on police patrol cars, at different traffic intersections and for managing VIP movement. They were kept as reserve police force and assigned duty owing to shortage of policemen in every districts.