Probe ordered into alleged exploitation of Bihar police personnel

Patna, Jun 24 (UNI) The Bihar government has ordered a probe into the alleged sexual harassment of 136 personnel of the state police force and the circumstances under which they returned from Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir leaving their training midway.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told mediapersons here today that investigation was started into the case and a team of state police had left for Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir where the personnel, recruited recently, were undergoing training.

He said the Border Security Force (BSF) had pleaded that the recruits deserted the training camp because of the rigorous training.

''It will be improper to comment on the issue at the moment and anything concrete can be stated only after the investigation report is submitted,'' the Chief Minister said.

Meanwhile, BSF DG A K Mitra ruled out any ''sexual exploitation'' of the personnel at the training camp in Udhampur and said being afraid of the strictness, discipline and hard training, the recruits deserted their training midway.

''The BSF will not tolerate such things and the strict rules during the training will be continued even if the trainees desert their training,'' he said.

Taking serious note of the alleged sexual exploitation of the recruits by the BSF trainers, Bihar Policemen Association president Jitendra Singh demanded the state government to make arrangements for proper training of the newly recruited personnel in Bihar itself.

Meanwhile, state Director General of Police (DGP) S C Jha dubbed the charges as ''frivolous'' and said, ''Since the training is very tough, the recruits, being unable to bear its rigours, might have cooked up the story of sexual harassment.'' He, however, said the actual facts would be known once Commandant of Patna-based Bihar Military Police Ram Narayan Singh submitted his report after the investigation.

Earlier, alleging sexual exploitation, nearly 136 personnel of Bihar police came back from Udhampur leaving their training midway.

They also lodged a complaint in this connection before the Bihar Policemen Association which in turn raised the matter before the state government.

About 370 recruits of Bihar police had joined the Udhampur and Jagnoo training centres of the BSF on June 1 for a 40-week training course.

Later, they alleged that the BSF trainers had not only ''misbehaved'' with them, but also exploited them sexually.

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