The Kollidam Police have registered a case against a police officer in the rank of a Deputy Superintendent of Police for failing to book a SC/ST case under appropriate section and not initiating due action thereafter in the case booked in 2019. The case against Mr. Rajasekhar who was the DSP of Lalgudi Sub Division was registered on January 31 following a direction from a court here.
The case against Mr. Rajasekhar was booked under section 4 (1) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 on a complaint from Balachandran belonging to Dalit community. Balachandran of Uthamarseeli had lodged a complaint with the Kollidam Police in November 2019 stating that some caste Hindus had asked him to stop construction of a toilet on his land besides telling him that he could reside in the village only if he consented to cremate the dead.
Based on the complaint, the Kollidam Police booked a case on December 2, 2019 under different sections of the Indian Penal Code and under various sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The then DSP of Lalgudi Sub Division Rajasekar was the investigation officer in the case.
Balachandran filed a petition through his counsel in the First Additional District Court here contending that the DSP had not performed his duty as required and that he had failed to register the case under relevant section of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Further, the DSP had not given a copy of the FIR to Balachandran and did not obtain statements from him, the petitioner further contended. The police officer had not filed the final report within 60 days. Based on the Court Endorsement, the case was booked against the police officer.
