Kochi DCP sends constable to punitive traffic duty on failing to recognise her

In a recent incident of misuse of power in Kerala’s Kochi, city's newly appointed Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Aishwarya Dongre IPS sends a constable who didn’t recognise her, on traffic duty as a punitive measure.

The woman police constable was posted on sentry duty at the women’s police station near the Town North station. The young IPS officer who had taken charge in Kochi on January 1 visited the station as part of her inspection drive on Sunday. The constable apparently failed to recognise her who was in plain clothes. Reports state that Aishwarya parked her official vehicle a little away from the station and was stopped by the woman constable at the station, failing to recognise her in plain clothes, she asked her about the purpose of visit.

After that the constable was sent to a two-day punishment duty in the traffic department. The DCP said that the woman was lacking adequate alertness on the occasion of a senior police officer visiting the police station. “She was on sentry duty. She is supposed to be most alert. But despite the official vehicle I came in, she failed to recognise me and stopped me,” she said.

However, the Kerala Police Association says that this was a too harsh decision. They said given that Aishwarya was new to her role and had a mask on, it was difficult for the constable to identify her. Moreover, there are protocols on limited number of people entering a police station. They suggested that the constable could have been let off with a warning.

Source: News Minute

Written by Siddhant Sharma