Timely and strong action! DGP Swain’s warning on the posting of photos with officers will give a big blow to unscrupulous elements; Stooges misuse their links with police openly

Timely and strong action! DGP Swain’s warning on the posting of photos with officers will give a big blow to unscrupulous elements; Stooges misuse their links with police openly

SALIL RAINA

(POONCH TODAY NEWS)

POONCH/JAMMU: To save the reputation and credibility of the country’s elite force, DGP J&K Police R.R. Swain warned the other day against posting photos of senior officers on social media by anybody without permission from the concerned officers.

The DGP took this action in the public interest as it has become a regular practice by some unscrupulous elements present in society, such as unprofessional media persons, some NGOs, social leaders, self-branded RTI activists, a few employees, and some business houses, to visit officers and take photos with the main objective of sharing them on social media to influence the public and give the impression that they have good relations with police officers. This practice has become a routine exercise in almost every district of J&K UT, but none of the police chiefs in the past, the zonal chief, range chief, district SSP, or a local SHO, thought of this idea to discourage such a practice. It has been seen that such stooges who have been working in different fields were seen indulging in photo culture with police officers and using those photos to threaten their critics with dire consequences. Some stooges were even seen saying that they were involved in the posting and shifting of SHOs and other police officers during routine transfers. Many times these touts are seen misusing their links with police officers by torturing the common man and civil officers for getting various favors through blackmailing. They frequently use the words “Yeh SHO mera banda hai, yeh SSP apna hai, Yeh IAS/IPS mere close hai, mere ACB/CBI mein strong links hain” before common man and other civil officers to win indirect favors. Even some SHOs and high-level officers are seen forming good relations with these stooges and unprofessional media people by leaking internal information about the department to settle their personal scores against their professional competitors. Unfortunately, such stooges were used to a large extent by some police officials for their own benefits, and due to the backing of police officers, touts, especially unprofessionals in the media field, used to implement their agenda of blackmailing very well on the ground. If the DGP R.R. Swain has issued this public appeal, then he needs to direct his subordinates not to encourage unprofessional and fake people in these fields and don’t give them enough space, as many incidents were seen where these unscrupulous elements took undue benefits of their relations with police officers by sharing their pictures on social media and, in return, used to threaten officers and common men by showing their links with police officers of top levels. By using these tactics, they were able to reap many undue benefits, including getting various internal security-related information. Many times, police officers, including SHOs at the local level, are seen clicking photos with these stooges, but they never take into account their ill intentions that, by sharing photos, they may take undue benefits from innocent people. There are a number of proofs that show how these stooges misused their relationships with police officers and used them to implement their agenda of blackmailing and other personal benefits on the ground. DGP R.R. Swain has taken a much-needed and timely decision by saying that this behavior is not only discourteous but also illegal. The DGP did not hesitate by branding the act as a criminal offence if such photos are used to influence or intimidate others for personal gain. It would be better if the DGP went one step forward and ordered a high-level inquiry and verification process to identify fake and unprofessional people in the media field, NGOs, self-styled leaders, doubtful employees, and self branded RTI activists, as this action would definitely remove the dirty people from these elite fields, and ultimately, those who always misused their links with police officers with ill intentions would be brought to justice. DGP R.R. Swain, who is known in police circles for his honesty and professional brilliance, has taken this step to save the credibility of J&K police in the eyes of the public, and now it is the moral responsibility of police officers of all ranks to implement the enormous idea of the DGP J&K police R.R. Swain on the ground, as it has been seen that many police officers are also fond of social media glamour by using their close unprofessional “Danda (Mike)-Mobile” media persons. The DGPs initiative is a historic one and needs to be implemented everywhere, even by civil and army officers, to win the trust of the common man by exposing the unscrupulous elements badly.