Bengaluru, Jun 15 : With media reports emerging that three police officers from Bengaluru were caught in Rajasthan while taking a bribe in a dowry harassment case, Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge on Monday said they have been suspended.
He also said the system is rusted and it will take time to correct it.
Reports said that the Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau caught three persons, one of them a woman sub-inspector attached to the HAL police station in Bengaluru, red-handed in Jaipur while allegedly accepting a bribe from an accused in a dowry harassment case.
The BJP too came down heavily on the government for failing to contain corruption in the police department.
Reacting to the reports, Priyank said that as soon as he learnt of it, he took up the matter, and the personnel concerned were suspended.
He conceded that the arrest did not bring honour to the state, especially when those who are supposed to protect people become exploiters themselves.
The minister said, “It is unacceptable. We have already suspended them. I have also directed senior officers to check whether any higher officials were involved in the matter.”
He opined that corruption and bribery had become deeply entrenched tendencies in society over time.
“But we must correct it not only at the lower levels but also from the top. The CM has already instructed that if anyone harasses citizens, demands bribes or engages in corruption, people should complain directly to us,” Priyank said.
He added that the government is working on a mechanism through which citizens can directly lodge complaints if police personnel or government officials engage in such activities, harass people or indulge in corruption while performing their duties.
“We will implement such a system in our (Home) department soon,” he said.
Asked about accountability within the department to address such issues, Priyank said, “I always talk about accountability. I am ready to take responsibility.”
At the same time, the minister asked people to see what had happened when the BJP government was in power in the state.
“Whether it was R Ashoka, Araga Jnanendra or Basavaraj Bommai, many scandals occurred during their tenure. When they were home ministers, were all police stations functioning perfectly? Was there no bribery then? If they want to blame me now, are they prepared to accept responsibility for what happened during their time?” he asked.
He said he was standing before people and openly saying that what the officers did was wrong.
“I also say that I will make an honest effort to correct it,” the minister said.
He challenged the BJP leaders who were criticising him to introspect.
“Wasn’t even a BJP MLA trapped by the Lokayukta in a bribery case? Who took responsibility for that? Did they express embarrassment or announce any action? If I am expected to be accountable, then others should first show that they are accountable as well. The role of the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, R Ashoka, is not to make irresponsible statements,” he said.
Ashoka, in a post on X, slammed Priyank over the incident.
“Police in the Congress government are the thieves themselves! It is a matter of shame for the state home department that 124 policemen from the state have already been suspended in cases involving drug trafficking, robbery, and the like,” he said in his post.
After Priyank took charge as the home minister, the department’s prestige and dignity were being auctioned off at the national level, he charged, citing the Rajasthan incident as an example.
Ashoka, the former home minister of the state, advised Priyank that instead of seeking to control the RSS, he should hold a meeting to bring discipline to the police department, so that the state’s law and order system does not become a laughing stock. (PTI)
