Lady constable's death; cops go on rampage in Bihar

In what appeared to be a ‘sepoy mutiny’ of pre-Independence era, a large number of junior cops in Patna took to streets, protested against their seniors, smashed their vehicles and indulged in large-scale vandalism on Friday.

The cops were angry over the death of a woman constable Sarita Pathak who died of dengue while undergoing treatment. The junior cops, mostly woman constables, backed by their male counterparts, attacked City SP, DSP and an inspector-rank official when they visited Police Lines to assuage the ruffled feathers of woman cops.

The woman constables, mostly trainee cops, took lathis in their hand, turned the police Gypsy upside down, smashed the window screens of official vehicles and resorted to unprecedented vandalism at Police Lines.

“Sarita died because she could not get proper treatment as she was denied leave,” said one of the protestors, who later attacked media men too.

Anguished over an unprecedented situation where cops attacked cops, that too in the heart of the state capital, Nitish asked Bihar DGP KS Dwivedi to submit a report in this regard.

“This is a case of gross indiscipline. A high-level probe panel will examine the matter. Strict action will be taken against those found guilty as these trainee cops have not yet completed their training programme. If need be, some of them may be dismissed too,” said the DGP.