During the last three and half years, Delhi Police has suspended 1,422 personnel and terminated services of 122 others after going into complaints, including those related to dowry, domestic disputes and corrupt conduct, according to a reply to an RTI query.

The Police received 18,861 complaints since January 2016 till August 2019. After going into these complaints, 1,422 personnel were suspended. However, 1,150 of those suspended were reinstated and departmental inquiry is pending against 487, the response to RTI query filed by PTI said.

A total of 122 police personnel have been sacked, it said.

Former Assistant Commissioner of Delhi Police Y K Tyagi told PTI that suspension of police personnel does not necessarily mean punishment, which is only decided after a departmental inquiry.

The punishment includes no income increment, reducing years of service and termination. In cases of corruption, a case may be registered and the service can also be terminated, Tyagi said.

Generally, the complaints against police personnel are received from the public and the department. If a court takes a decision against police personnel, it is also looked into by the department, he said.

According to the RTI reply, the Central district police received 6,219 complaints against its personnel and suspended 75 of them, while services were terminated of 4 policemen.

A departmental inquiry is ongoing against 34 personnel of the Central district police, it said.

Among other districts in the capital, 3,428 complaints were received by North-Western district police, followed by Shahadra (2,894), Outer district (2,585), Western district (1,419) and Dwarka (839), according to the RTI response.

South East, South, East and North East districts did not provide details on the complaints but did share information on the sacked and reinstated policemen.

Delhi Police's Public Relations Officer MS Randhawa was not available for comments.