1482 complaints registered against police in over three years
KATHMANDU, Nov 29: With growing number of genuine complaints registered against Nepal Police, the law enforcement agency said that the public complaints have helped in improving the police force in over three years.
Complaints against the police include rudeness, recklessness while on duty, assaults, misuse of authority and their involvement in financial anomalies. The Home Ministry, Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), National Vigilance Center and Nepal Police Headquarters are the main bodies to have received complaints against police officers of all ranks.
According to the Complaints Probing Department at the Police Headquarters, the four bodies have received about 1482 complaints in over three years and during the investigation about 155 police personnel were charged as per the gravity of the crimes committed by them during the period.
Unlike in the past, annual figures provided by the department shows that the tendency of registering genuine complaints against the police has increased than the previous years.
In the past, the number of fake complaints against police was very high as an alarming number of such complaints were suspected to be reported from within the police institution.
“But the growing tendency of complaining against the police has helped in effective policing of the entire institution,” Nepal Police Spokesperson DIG Hemanta Malla said.
The Complaints Probing Department head SSP Dipak Kumar Thapa said, “We investigate, monitor the activities of the police based on the complaints from the general public and staff themselves and take action if found guilty.”
A police inspector deputed at a local police office in Aarughat of Gorkha district was handed a four-year delay in promotion after he was found guilty in anomalies in relief distribution meant for earthquake victims. Based on a complaint registered on September 8, 2015 by one of the quake victims that the police inspector was hiding the relief material at his residence in Nalang VDC of Dhading, a police squad deployed from the Police Headquarters had found him guilty.
Likewise, a police head constable deputed at the Metropolitan Police Circle, Kamalpokhari, was accused of snatching a mobile set from a person in custody for no reason in June. After he was found guilty, the police halted his promotion for five years.
In another instance, a police head constable deputed at the Audio Visual Department of Police Headquarters was demoted after he was found involved in illegally collecting money to make driving license without any hassles. A complaint had been registered against him on September 9 this year.
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In the current fiscal year 2016/017, only 18 police have been charged so far based on the complaints filed at various bodies.
In the fiscal year 2013/014, the total number of complaints registered against the police was 430, whereas the number in the fiscal year 2014/015 was 550, the number in fiscal year 2015/016 was recorded at 379. The total number of such complaints in the current fiscal year 2016/017 in six months is 113.
The department, which consults with Inspector General of Police in some genuine cases, is considered as the anti-graft body within the Nepal Police, as it has to investigate its own staff.
