Governor flays police administration on Police Day parade

Lucknow, Nov 23 (UNI) Choosing the Police Day parade as an occasion to flay the police administration in the state, Uttar Pradesh Governor T V Rajeswar today came down heavily on policing in the state, saying he was concerned by reports that there was a flourishing 'kidnapping industry', the biggest in Asia, in some of the western districts of the state.

Quoting media reports in this regard, the Governor said as per the reports, a Rs 200 crore kidnapping industry was thriving in Ghaziabad , Agra, Bulandshahr and Etah districts and the area was being termed a ''kidnapping zone.'' ''If these reports are correct, it is a major cause of concern for all of us to look into it,'' Mr Rajeswar said.

The Governor, who took the salute of the parade, made the comments in the presence of Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, other senior ministers, Chief Secretary N C Bajpayee, DGP Bua Singh and Principal Secretary (Home) S K Agarwal.

Mentioning the police's role in the recent Anant kidnapping case in Noida, Mr Rajeswar said it was certainly a wrong practice to have the accused makes a statement in front of the media. ''Ideally, the statement of the accused should be made before some magistrate,'' he pointed out.

The Governor, who has often been under fire from government quarters for his remarks against the actions of the state government, said as per the records during the last one year, the police had raided 500 illegal arms factories in the state. ''The figure is intimidating and the state government should remian alive to the threat emanating from these,'' he said.

He went on to point out that more than 300 carbine licences had been issued in the state. ''Why are such a high number of prohibited weapons here,'' he asked.

Referring to the recent report of National SC and ST Commission in which the UP government was singled out for its ''inability'' to protect the rights of dalits and bacwards, the Governor said there were reports pouring in about illegal occupation of Dalit's land.

Mr Rajeswar underlined the role of the police in recently held civic elections in UP, saying he had received more than one thousand complaints of irregularities mostly against the police personnel.

''I forwarded the complaints to the State Election commission (SEC) and am at pains to learn that in some cases the policemen acted in a partial manner.

Advising the police to be more objective, purposeful and impartial, he said the bigger challenge was ahead in the form of state assembly polls and the police was expected to perform impartially and fair manner.

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