JOIN USAfter waiting for nearly five months-- District Crime Investigation Bureau (DCIB) Inspector Venkatesha Prasanna had not responded to the show-cause notice served on him on May 14, 2009--the Police Department appears to have decided to act now. The inspector had to reply in seven days or face action. But the department also failed to act on the matter.
The issue will come up at the review meeting scheduled for September 19, Western Range IGP Gopal B Hosur told Deccan Herald. The delay in taking the action was only due to administrative reason and not because of political pressure, he claimed.
Deccan Herald had to wait for nearly two months to obtain the show-cause notice copy under the RTI Act. The notice charges that Prasanna and his brother had misused the seized Tata Indigo car for personal use by fixing a fake number plate on it while he was working at Mangalore South Police Station. The vehicle was seized as the police felt that it was a stolen car. The seized silver-coloured car (registration number MH-04-BN- 6576) was being misused by Prasanna and his brother H N Balakrishna using the fake number (KA-2-P -3711).
Prasanna obtained permission from the court to keep the car in police custody till the owner was traced. The notice alleged Prasanna had recorded the chassis and engine numbers of the seized car in the FIR by himself without the authentication of the authority concerned. Similarly, the meter reading of the car was also not recorded in the FIR, it added.
Lokayukta DySP B Jaya Bhandary had seized the same car from the premises of Prasanna's house on July 2, 2007. Later, it was unearthed during an inspection by Motor Vehicle Inspector Hoovaiah Poojari that the engine number recorded in the FIR was wrong. While the actual engine number of the car was 475 IDT 14 BTZP 27488, it was wrongly recorded in the FIR as 279001153804.
The show-cause notice said Prasanna had violated the court directive, misused official powers and showed negligence towards his duties. "You have brought disgrace to the police department by prompting the State Upa-Lokayukta to issue search warrant. Hence, I intend to take action against you under the provisions of Karnataka Police Act as well as Rule 7 of the Karnataka State Police (disciplinary actions) Rules, 1965 and Amendment Rules, 1989," the notice stated.
Copy of the show-cause notice was also forwarded to the State DG and IGP.
DH News Service