Thiruvananthapuram: The details of guns and bullets missing from the Special Armed Police Battalion, Thiruvananthapuram, have come up in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) tabled in the assembly on Wednesday.
The audit observed a shortfall of 25 rifles of various kinds and 12,061 live cartridges from the Special Armed Police Battalion, Thiruvananthapuram. The shortage of 250 9mm drill cartridges was covered up by replacing the same with dummy cartridges.
The audit examined a shortfall in availability of modern weaponry and consequent deployment of obsolete weapons. As on September 2018, the status of availability of modern weapons in the department was only 11,446 for police constables, civil police officers, senior civil police officers and havildars against the requirement of 41,064, with a deficit of 29,618 weapons.
The audit also examined that failure of the police department to make payment of spectrum charges resulted in inability to obtain licences from Union government for procurement of digital mobile radios (DMR). Anti-Maoist operations in the dense forests of Palakkad, Malappuram, Idukki and Wayanad suffered for want of DMR as the personnel on field had to depend on analog communication equipment.
Addressing reporters here on Wednesday, accountant general (general and social sector audit) said that there was a clear nexus between officers of the police department, vendors and Keltron in fixation of prices in at least four instances of procurement of electronic gadgets and equipment, violating store purchase manual and central vigilance commission (CVC) guidelines.
The audit report also targetted the state police chief for purchasing luxury vehicles and constructing luxury villas, thus misappropriating funds and leaving police personnel on field high and dry with no enough weapons or communication systems.
The state police chief didn’t reply to specific allegations. “We will give a reply to the public accounts committee of the legislature on the facts about each allegation. Audit report of CAG, as per the procedure, has to be sent by the government to the PAC which is empowered and competent to take decisions on such allegations,” said a statement issued by the police headquarters.
Responding to the serious findings against the state police chief, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala demanded the government to remove Loknath Behera from the post. He also demanded probes by central agencies such as National Investigation Agency and Central Bureau of Investigation into the alleged corruption he committed.
The report on general and social sector for 2017-18 said that the police department violated guidelines of modernization of police force (MOPF) scheme to procure luxury vehicles during 2013-18. MOPF scheme guidelines only allow procurement of vehicles like jeep, motorcycles and medium/heavy vehicles for deployment at police stations and outposts.
Of the 269 light motor vehicles (LMVs)procured during the period, 64 were procured for the use of non-operational units and high-level officers.
As many as 41 of the 64 LMVs were either cars or luxury vehicles such as Toyota Crysta, Innova, Maruti Ciaz, Maruti Ertiga and Swift Dzire, which were not eligible for procurement under MOPF scheme. Audit observed that while eight of the 64 vehicles were allotted to the vehicle pool at PHQ or to high-level officers, 19 vehicles were allotted to non-operational units like crime branch-criminal investigation department and 25 vehicles like Bolero SLE 2WD and Tata Sumo Gold were transferred to vigilance department, which is not covered under the scope of the MOPF scheme.
The report said that the state police chief violated MOPF guidelines, which prohibited procurement of vehicles for VIP/VVIP security utlizing MOPF funds. Two bullet-resistent vehicles were procured at a cost of Rs 1.10 crore without inviting tenders as required under the Store Purchase Manual. The state police chief also diverted a fund of Rs 2.8 crore meant for construction of staff quarters for sub-inspectors and additional sub-inspectors for construction of villas for the state police chief himself as well as other additional directors general of police, the report said.
The audit observed a shortfall of 25 rifles of various kinds and 12,061 live cartridges from the Special Armed Police Battalion, Thiruvananthapuram. The shortage of 250 9mm drill cartridges was covered up by replacing the same with dummy cartridges.
The audit examined a shortfall in availability of modern weaponry and consequent deployment of obsolete weapons. As on September 2018, the status of availability of modern weapons in the department was only 11,446 for police constables, civil police officers, senior civil police officers and havildars against the requirement of 41,064, with a deficit of 29,618 weapons.
The audit also examined that failure of the police department to make payment of spectrum charges resulted in inability to obtain licences from Union government for procurement of digital mobile radios (DMR). Anti-Maoist operations in the dense forests of Palakkad, Malappuram, Idukki and Wayanad suffered for want of DMR as the personnel on field had to depend on analog communication equipment.
Addressing reporters here on Wednesday, accountant general (general and social sector audit) said that there was a clear nexus between officers of the police department, vendors and Keltron in fixation of prices in at least four instances of procurement of electronic gadgets and equipment, violating store purchase manual and central vigilance commission (CVC) guidelines.
The audit report also targetted the state police chief for purchasing luxury vehicles and constructing luxury villas, thus misappropriating funds and leaving police personnel on field high and dry with no enough weapons or communication systems.
The state police chief didn’t reply to specific allegations. “We will give a reply to the public accounts committee of the legislature on the facts about each allegation. Audit report of CAG, as per the procedure, has to be sent by the government to the PAC which is empowered and competent to take decisions on such allegations,” said a statement issued by the police headquarters.
Responding to the serious findings against the state police chief, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala demanded the government to remove Loknath Behera from the post. He also demanded probes by central agencies such as National Investigation Agency and Central Bureau of Investigation into the alleged corruption he committed.
The report on general and social sector for 2017-18 said that the police department violated guidelines of modernization of police force (MOPF) scheme to procure luxury vehicles during 2013-18. MOPF scheme guidelines only allow procurement of vehicles like jeep, motorcycles and medium/heavy vehicles for deployment at police stations and outposts.
Of the 269 light motor vehicles (LMVs)procured during the period, 64 were procured for the use of non-operational units and high-level officers.
As many as 41 of the 64 LMVs were either cars or luxury vehicles such as Toyota Crysta, Innova, Maruti Ciaz, Maruti Ertiga and Swift Dzire, which were not eligible for procurement under MOPF scheme. Audit observed that while eight of the 64 vehicles were allotted to the vehicle pool at PHQ or to high-level officers, 19 vehicles were allotted to non-operational units like crime branch-criminal investigation department and 25 vehicles like Bolero SLE 2WD and Tata Sumo Gold were transferred to vigilance department, which is not covered under the scope of the MOPF scheme.
The report said that the state police chief violated MOPF guidelines, which prohibited procurement of vehicles for VIP/VVIP security utlizing MOPF funds. Two bullet-resistent vehicles were procured at a cost of Rs 1.10 crore without inviting tenders as required under the Store Purchase Manual. The state police chief also diverted a fund of Rs 2.8 crore meant for construction of staff quarters for sub-inspectors and additional sub-inspectors for construction of villas for the state police chief himself as well as other additional directors general of police, the report said.
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