SCAM/CORRUPTION – 2010 - Indian Social Institute

30 Gujarat cops jailed in 3 years for serious crime like murder
AHMEDABAD: It seems to be difficult days for Gujarat police. In the last three years, as many as 30 cops
including five IPS officers have been sent behind bars for alleged involvement in a serious offence like
murder. The state government's affidavit in the Supreme Court (SC) in 2007 admitting that Sohrabuddin
Sheikh was killed in a fake encounter has opened a Pandora's box. CID (crime), which was investigating
the case then, arrested 14 cops, including three IPS officers. But if one believed it would end the series of
arrests, it was not to be. In 2010, the SC transferred the case to CBI, which soon arrested one IPS officer
and a former minister of state for home. Simultaneously, the state CID (crime) started investigations into
the Tulsi Prajapati fake encounter case and arrested 13 cops, including an IPS officer. Some of these
cops were already behind bars in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case. Recently, CID (crime) also
arrested one police officer along with eight others in a murder case where a 17-year-old youth was killed
in a dispute over Rs 50 crore land. More recently, Ahmedabad crime branch arrested one police
constable for his alleged role in the murder of RTI activist, Amit Jethava. The constable had given a Rs 15
lakh supari to get the activist out of the way of a leading politician. The cops' woes started after the SC
started monitoring the post-Godhra riot cases. After setting up of Special Investigation Team (SIT), three
cops were arrested in Deepda Darwaza, Naroda Patia and Gulbarg society massacre case. Soon, CBI
arrested one cop in the Bilkis Bano case. (TOI, 19/8/2010)
CIC raps govt officers for giving wrong info under RTI
NEW DELHI: The central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi has pulled up two public information
and senior superintendent officers one of them a former one from the Delhi government social welfare
department for "providing false information'' and "for not supplying complete information'' to an RTI query.
Both the officers have been given a showcause notice. Subhas Baghel from Pratidhi a voluntary
organization had appealed to the CIC and claimed that he had been misinformed by the state welfare
department about action taken in an alleged case of corruption. Baghel had appealed that in a recent
RTI reply, O P Bhatti, PIO of the department had informed him that no departmental inquiry had been
taken up against 13 accused officers of the state welfare department, who were found to be involved in a
fraud by the anti-corruption department. Baghel argued that in an earlier RTI filed by him, K K Bhalla,
senior superintendant (vigilance) had informed him that inquiry proceedings had been ordered by a
competent authority. "We had attracted Gandhi's attention to this glaring contradiction,'' said Rajmangal
Prasad, an RTI activist, who has been trying to expose a scam in the social welfare department regarding
the procurement of children's home items (food, clothing and bedding) for the past two years. Baghel
argued that in response to another of his RTI questions, the present PIO O P Bhatti had informed them
that none of the officers involved in the scam was recommended for being promoted as joint director.
"The reply had two words, "not yet''. However, we challenged this reply and the CIC ruled that the PIO
(administration) has now provided an affidavit to this effect before September 2010,'' said Prasad. "It
appears that Bhalla the then PIO has provided false information to the complainant. A showcause notice
is being issued to him and he is directed to give reasons to the commission to show cause why no
penalty will not be levied on him,'' Gandhi has ruled. About two years ago, through a series of RTIs, the
NGO had exposed cases of corruption in the social welfare department. At least 13 officers were arrested
by the anti-corruption branch and stayed in jail for several days before being granted bail. Since then the
RTI activists have been pressing to know whether the department had initiated action against the
accused. (TOI, 23/8/2010)
Crimes record a jump compared to last year, cases under Explosives Act up by 200%
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has recorded a phenomenal jump in the number of cases booked under the
Explosive Act this year in comparison with corresponding period last year. From 94 cases booked during
the year ending June 2009, the number of cases have gone up to 194 till June 2010 -- an increase of
200%, according to State Crime Records Bureau. "The increase is mainly due to the registration of more
number of cases in the Sivakasi belt. We do not have too many quarry-related explosion cases.
Whenever there is a blast in a cracker unit, a case is booked under the Explosives Act. We have been
carrying out frequent raids in such units and booking them for violations," additional director general of
police (law and order) K Radhakrishnan told The Times Of India. He said the number of quarries had
also gone up considerably in Tamil Nadu to meet the phenomenal increase in demand for blue metal.
"Most of our roads are being widened and becoming four-lane roads. Due to this, there is an increase in
demand for blue metal. So new quarries have come up," Radhakrishnan said. He said the skeletal
strength in the explosives department, which is the authority for licencing and regulation of units dealing
with explosives, also has been a major hurdle in regulation of dealers and stockists of explosives.
Crimes of other nature, except cases of dacoity and common theft, have also recorded an increase in