Refusal to register complaints from aggrieved persons will henceforth land police officials in trouble. The deputy commissioners of police of all the seven zones will now accept complaints that have been ‘rejected’ by police stations coming under their jurisdiction and will order them to investigate those cases.
“The system has been introduced after a rise in complaints against police officials refusing to file first information reports (FIRs). The director general of police, Ajai Kumar Singh, had ordered that this system be set up by January, and we implemented it,”said additional commissioner of police (law and order), MR Pujar.
This system has been extended to some parts of Karnataka, and it will soon be established across the state. The complaint cells will be supervised by the deputy commissioners of police (DCPs) of each division in cities like Bangalore, Mysore, Hubli-Dharwad and Mangalore, while the district cells will be monitored by the superintendents of police (SPs).
“In the absence of a DCP or SP at office, a sub-inspector will be deputed to accept complaints against police officers refusing to register public grievances. We have already posted sub-inspectors on a rotation basis to man the cell round the clock,” Pujar said. Those officers refusing to file complaints will be ordered by the DCP of the jurisdiction cell to file an FIR, and also provide the complainant with an acknowledgement.
“We invite citizens to call up the cell to file complaints against any police officer who does not act upon the complaints submitted to him. However, people cannot directly approach the DCPs. The cell is only meant for those whose complaints have been refused, and not for registering fresh complaints that have not been referred to the police stations earlier,” he said.
As part of the programme, each police station is asked to display the numbers of senior police officers who can be contacted when people are in trouble. Pujar said that the work had commenced at all DCP offices in the city. The boards displaying the phone numbers would be put up in police stations soon, he said
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