Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday ordered the Karnataka police to book suo motu cases and take stern action against any instance of spreading fake news, hate speech, and ‘moral’ policing.
Vote for change
“People have voted for change and brought us to power. We expect the State police to also deliver the change the people want. Law and order is directly related to the development of the State and we will not tolerate anyone who disturbs peace,” he said, speaking after the senior police officers’ annual conference in Bengaluru.
“We have zero tolerance towards anybody who takes law into their hands, whoever that is, whatever their religion or party affiliation. We want to ensure there is no communal violence. Action should be taken by registering a voluntary FIR against those who disturb the peace of society,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
Home Minister G. Parameshwara, who was also in the internal meeting, reportedly took objection to instances of police officials themselves identifying with the Hindutva right wing and reportedly warned officials that the government would not tolerate it.
Action against senior officials
“Disciplinary action is usually taken against junior officials and not against seniors. We have decided to hold Deputy Commissioners of Police and Superintendents of Police responsible for unchecked crime and organised illegal activities in their jurisdictions and take action against them,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said, adding that in his experience he knew no crime could happen without the knowledge of the jurisdictional officers. He also instructed senior officials to not only visit police stations but also be on the ground and patrol the streets regularly.
“The Constitution has rejected social Darwinism and given equal rights to all. Police should not side with the powerful against hapless common people. The police are often accused of high-handedness when interacting with common people. We won’t tolerate that. Any instances of high handedness will be dealt with severely,” the Chief Minister said. “I have observed that a few police officers have good relations with anti-social elements. How will common people trust the people then?”
Special drive against drugs
Mr. Siddaramaiah said the thrust is also on rooting out drug menace completely. “I have asked the officials to launch a special drive against narcotics in the State, particularly Bengaluru. We are also thinking of forming a special team for the same,” he said.
