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Bribery case: Court raps police for citing absence of face recognition tool to identify offenders
Case dates back to 2019–2020 sting where 28 cops were allegedly caught on camera while accepting bribe
Expressing serious displeasure, a Ludhiana court on Thursday pulled up the police for citing the absence of a face-recognition tool as the reason for their failure to identify officers allegedly seen accepting bribes in video clips dating back to 2019–2020, terming the explanation unacceptable and troubling.
The court of special judge Amrinder Singh Shergill observed that the Ludhiana Police Commissionerate appeared to be deliberately avoiding the identification of personnel visible in the video footage. It remarked that the police are expected to identify even unknown offenders and that their inability to recognise their own staff raised serious concerns about intent and accountability.
Earlier, the Cyber Investigation and Technical Support Unit, Ludhiana, informed the court that no face-recognition software was available with the department and that the individuals in the videos could not be identified with the naked eye. The report further stated that legal proceedings would be initiated if any fresh evidence surfaced.
Inspector Nardev Singh, SHO of Division Number 3 police station, appeared before the court on February 5 and sought one final opportunity to clarify whether the police could identify the individuals appearing in the 28 video clips. Granting the request, the court gave the police a last chance to place their position on record before further proceedings are initiated. The next date of hearing has been fixed for February 12.
The court also directed that separate communications be sent to the chief secretary, Government of Punjab, and the director general of police, Punjab, to ensure identification of the personnel seen in the videos.
The case dates back to 2019–2020, when lottery trader Subhash Ketty alleged that police personnel were openly accepting bribes from lottery sellers. He submitted video evidence to the then commissioner of police Rakesh Agrawal, but no action followed. Ketty subsequently approached the Punjab and Haryana high court, leading to the registration of an FIR in March 2020.
So far, 11 police officials have been booked and a chargesheet filed against 10. However, Ketty maintains that 28 personnel were caught on camera, raising questions over selective action within the police force.
