8 cops booked for bunking work during the pandemic

A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against eight police constables of Local Arms (LA) unit, Tardeo of Mumbai police after they did not report to duty amidst the pandemic. All of them were given several warnings however none of them gave a response and failed to join after which the action has been taken against them, said an officer.

According to the police officer, seven of the police constables were absent since March and April while one is not reporting to duty since February last year. All of them have been served notices several times, the department has also made several calls to reach out to them, however, none of them gave any satisfactory response.

Recently a senior police inspector of LA Tardeo approached Tardeo police station and registered his complaint against the police personnel. After which the police personnel were booked under section 145 (misconduct by police officers) of the Maharashtra police act, 1951, Disaster Management Act, 2005 and Section 188 (disobeying public servant order) of the Indian Penal Code.

In the month of May, a similar offence was registered against 17 personnel of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) after they failed to report to duty.

The city police force is also facing force crunch as thousands of its personnel have contracted the deadly virus and are out of action as they are either hospitalised or serving their quarantine period. The city police have also rested their men above 55 years of age owing to their vulnerability which has reduced their strength further, said an official.

Currently, the state is facing a coronavirus outbreak owing to which COVID19 guidelines and Disaster Management Act have been implemented in the state. The police force which is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining Law and Order of the city has been declared as essential services.