Crackdown on 30 cops in Pune for being late for election duty

PUNE: The city police on Saturday cracked its whip on 30 policemen for a delay in reporting for duty to maintain bandobast when aspiring candidates in fray for the Kasba bypolls and their supporters had turned up in large numbers for filing nomination forms with the returning officer at the Ganesh Kala Krida Manch in Swargate.
The nomination forms were filed between January 31 and February 7.
The bypolls in Kasba and Chinchwad assembly constituencies will be held on February 26 amid tight security maintained by the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad police.
Deputy commissioner of police (zone II) Smartana Patil told TOI, “Thirty policemen have been indicted in the department inquiry after they failed to offer logical reasons behind the delay in reporting for election duty. I have inflicted minor punishment on the cops because there should be no laxity on their part in reporting for duty.”
Patil said, “I have time and again issued oral warnings to them to maintain discipline and report on time. But some policemen have not shown signs of improvement and a roll call taken revealed that they have not reported for bandobast duties on time on numerous occasions.”
She said, “When the filing of nominations started, many aspirants turned up with their party workers and supporters.
The situation was tense but no law and order problem was reported. But it had put pressure on the existing policemen who were less in number, but they did their job diligently.”
“A policeman should inform their instant superior if s/he cannot report for duty on time, for instance if they are held up due to traffic congestion, etc. But being late without a good enough reason is not at all acceptable,” she added.