Over 400 cops get sack order as govt. continues recruitment check

Lucknow, Aug 23 (UNI) A total of over 400 police constables recruited during the previous Mulayam Singh Yadav government have been given marching orders so far for failing to match the recruitment criterion.

A committee scrutinising the recruitment process has found that over 400 such men do not have the capability to be in the uniformed service. While some are physically unfit, some others have given fake age certificates to enter the police service.

The constables marked so far were among the 20,000 recruited into the police and the provincial armed constabulary (PAC) during the year 2005-06.

''The figure can easily touch 1000 in the coming days...while the government wants the officials to end the scrutiny at the earliest, it will take till October to end the process,'' confided an officer.

Chief Minister Mayawati had ordered scrutinising the recruitments following large scale complaints of irregularities.

Additional Director General(ADG) of Police in charge of Special Task Force S K Mishra is heading the committee looking into the irregularities.

The respective district police chiefs (SSPs and SPs) are checking the records of new recruits to remove the 'undeserving elements'. On the other hand, the board looking into the overall irregularities is also investigating the role of IPS officers who headed the 55 recruitment boards set up across UP during the previous regime.

The recruitment was carried out at different places between February 2005 and November 2006. At 15 places, selections boards were headed by the district SSPs/SPs. At 40 other places, the government had deputed DIG rank officers.

Even as government mulls action against senior police officials, one of state's top cop Additional Director General of police Ajay Singh has been chargesheeted by the anti-corruption bureau for corruption and cheating.

The FIR was lodged on the complaint of one Ramnath Singh Yadav, who claimed to have given the ADG a list of 20 applicants and an amount of Rs 26 lakh. But Yadav claimed the ADG did not do anything despite pocketing the money.

UNI