Only 0.2% of over 1L complaints against Delhi Police probed
The annual report of Delhi Police released on Monday revealed that over 1.12 lakh complaints were received by its anti-corruption helpline against police personnel and only 307 of these cases were investigated. It makes up only 0.27% of the total complaints received. The complaints allege corruption among personnel, inaction over FIRs and rude behaviour by the police.
The anti-corruption helpline of Delhi Police received over 1.12 lakh calls, text and WhatsApp messages, alleging corruption, inaction in complaints and rude behaviour against police personnel in 2016, states the annual report of Delhi Police released on Monday.Of the total calls and messages, the department investigated only 307 complaint calls and messages. It means inquiry was initiated in only 0.27% complaints and calls received on the vigilance helpline. Police received over 1,12,144 calls and messages on the anti-graft helpline. While 93,350 complaints were received through WhatsApp on vigilance helpline number 9910641064, 13,765 came through calls. A total of 5,029 complaints against police personnel were sent as text messages. The Whatsapp helpline 9910641064 launched in 2014 was started by the vigilance department to take complaints of police personnel in corruption and wrong doing. Police receive video and audio files, complaints and information on this helpline. Out of 307 complaints taken up for inquiry, 150 were related to corruption, 55 were about inaction and 102 about interference in land and property matters and high-handed behaviour. Senior police officers, however, claimed that complaints of corruption, extortion, connivance with criminals and unlawful activities and misbehaviour decreased in 2016 when compared with 2015.  In 2015, a total of 2,335 such complaints were made against police personnel. However, in 2016, the number dipped to 1,178. A total of 528 complaints were about corruption and extortion against police personnel. Similarly, 433 complaints were regarding misbehaviour by police and 109 complaints were related to non-registration of cases. Thirty-one people complained about faulty investigation into cases. Data shows that 616 officials were suspended for various allegations, while departmental inquiry was initiated against 696 police staff, out of which 863 were found guilty since in certain complaints several officials were named. During the year, 437 police personnel were punished, out of which 109 were dismissed. Of the 437 punished personnel, seven were inspectors, 73 sub-inspectors, 19 assistant sub-inspectors, 65 head constables and 271 were constables. ?The sharp decline in complaints received against police personnel is a result of the sustained emphasis laid by us and prompt inquiry into complaints followed by swift punitive action on substantiated allegations. The force has adopted a zero-tolerance policy against corruption, inaction and misbehaviour by police personnel. The perception created among staff that if found guilty, they will not be spared has helped us contain corruption in the department,? said Dependra Pathak, Delhi Police spokesperson. Besides the calls and messages received on 9910641064, the other vigilance helpline numbers ? 1064 and 1800111064 ? were also put to effective use. On these helplines, 247 calls were received in 2016, out of which 79 were of inaction, 147 regarding corruption and 21 related to miscellaneous issues. Delhi Police?s annual crime statistics show that with registration of 2,09,519 cases in 2016, 575 crimes were reported every day in the city. The year saw an increase of 18,142 cases over 2015 when the city had witnessed 1,91,377 crimes. The number increased even though heinous crimes such as dacoity, murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping for ransom and rioting saw a significant decrease as compared to crimes reported in 2015. Of the total 2,09,519 cases, only 55,957 cases were solved by the police. It means that almost 74% crimes remained unsolved, which is around 2% higher from 2015 when percentage of the unsolved cases was a little over 72%. Data shows that one woman is raped in Delhi every four hours. Every 9 minutes a woman makes a distress call to the police helpline. One vehicle is stolen every 12 minutes in Delhi while every 6 min, one person becomes victim of theft and every two hours, one person is robbed. One person becomes victim of snatching every 30 minutes.