Karnataka - Bangalore   

Modern weapons acquired for police use rusting in armoury

Bangalore: Personnel attached to 81 police stations in Mysore city and Mysore and Tumkur districts have neither been given sophisticated weapons nor provided training in handling them. To be used during serious law and order situations, such weapons are rusting in the armoury.

Hundreds of policemen, in charge of maintaining law and order in the three police station units, have been put to hardship since March last year as the Police Department has not ensured the supply of weapons to the stations according to the norms.

The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, in its report for the year ended March 31, 2007, said that the heads of the police units attributed it to non-supply of weapons and lack of training to the personnel.

According to the norms laid down by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR and D), the requirement of different types of new weapons for the State was 23,830, to be procured over a period of five to seven years, commencing from 2000-01.

Of this, the department received 13,487 weapons of different types and distributed 10,776 of them to various police units and police training centres as of March 2007.

Bulk of the weapons supplied (10,651) to the police units was retained in the armoury of District Armed Reserve and City Armed Reserve.

The CAG officers, who test-checked the records of the police units of the Commissioner of Police, Mysore, and Superintendents of Police in Mysore and Tumkur districts, found that the number of arms to be procured for 81 police stations was 2,236, of which 1,406 were received by the units. Of this, only 242 weapons (17.21 per cent), had been distributed to the stations.

Equipment procured at a cost of Rs. 2.96 crore during 2000-06 were lying idle for want of consumables and trained personnel. Some equipment though not required immediately were purchased by the department.

Of the 234 fax machines purchased at a cost of Rs. 33.41 lakh during 2002-06, the department supplied only 171 to the stations. And even those supplied could not be used for want of consumables, such as cartridges and toners.

During 2004-05, 101 generators bought at a cost of Rs. 12.96 lakh, of which 29 were supplied, and mini-crime scopes and cameras worth Rs. 98.82 lakh could not be used for want of trained personnel. Mass spectrometer, gas chromatograph, auto analyser, automatic solvents, LCD projectors and other equipment acquired at a cost of Rs. 91.41 lakh were not required for immediate use.

The department had no explanation for not utilising web cameras and video conferencing equipment purchased at Rs. 21.33 lakh. Emission testing machines, purchased during 2003 and 2006-07 could not be used, as the department had not secured the licence from the Regional Transport Office.

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