Bihar police warns action against 50 cops over social media reels in uniform

Patna: Close on the heels of Bihar Police headquarters issuing a diktat to its officers not to make and post any reels in uniform, the Purnia SP, Sweety Sehrawat, has suspended one of the SHO (Station House Officer) Shabana Azmi for violating the department rules and posting reels and photographs (in uniform) on social media.

The action comes amid a recent directive from Police headquarters to all the SPs concerned to take action against 50 such cops (32 female officers and 18 male cops) who have posted reels while being in uniform.

The SHO Shabana earned the ire of the top cops when she posted a video of her relatives sitting on her official chair when she was posted at Phanishwar Nath Renu police outpost. After the video went viral, Shabana Azmi deleted the video, but could not escape her suspension.

“We are not going to tolerate any negligence of department rules by the cops. The conduct of cops will be regularly monitored and they have to be very careful about social media posts,” said the SP.

The punitive action started last month when a police sub-inspector Diwakar Sarkar was suspended when he made and posted reels while doing his patrol duty in diara areas (on the banks of river).

Meanwhile, in the official communique sent to the top cops, links to the reels and videos concerned have been attached with the list sent to the SPs. Out of these 50 cops, 16 are from Patna itself.

They are likely to be suspended in the days to come as the police headquarters has released the names of erring cops. “Those who have been identified as having violated the directive, will have to face punitive action,” said the Senior SP (SSP) of Patna, Kartikey Sharma.