As many as 175 police constables, which includes many women were reportedly dismissed from duty while 23 others were suspended for large-scale vandalism and protest within and outside New Police Lines premises at Lodipur in Patna last Friday. Reportedly, the newly recruited police constables went on a rampage to protest the death of a woman trainee constable.

What happened?

According to The Times Of India, the protesting constables were trying to lynch DSP Mashluddin for allegedly denying leave to the sick constable who died in hospital earlier that day. Out of those who were suspended on Sunday, November 4, 167 were newly recruited whereas, 60% of them were women, said Patna zonal IG Nayyar Hasnain Khan. Besides, eight other police officers have also been suspended on charges of negligence, misconduct and delayed action. Khan is overseeing the investigations and also has been entrusted with the job of taking actions against those found guilty. This is arguably the first time that such a large-scale action has been taken against police constables.

Savita Pathak, 22, died at a private hospital on the morning of November 2, a day after she had to be taken off duty owing to her deteriorating health conditions reported Firstpost. While the police officers said that she had apparently been suffering from Dengue, the hospital later clarified that she was suffering from some form of a viral infection. The irate constables then took matters into their own hands and went on a rampage. Reportedly, it took hours for the situation to be brought under control.

While four FIRs have been filed in connection with the incident, one of them has been lodged by none other than DSP Mashluddin who was assaulted and chased to his residence by mobs. The IGP also said, “We suspect that the agitators were instigated by some disgruntled personnel, against whom the officer might have taken action in the past.”

Reportedly, the women constables had been recruited as a part of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s scheme of recruiting more women in government jobs. Over 900 new recruits, 300 of whom are women are presently undergoing training in Patna and were barely trained for five or ten days, reported Hindustan Times. Meanwhile, the CM has sought a detailed report from Director General of Police (DGP) KS Dwivedi.

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