Bihar cracks down on reel-making cops, SHO suspended

An SHO of Woman police station in Purnea, Shabana Azmi, who was in controversy earlier also for letting her relatives occupy her police station chair and which went viral, was put under suspension on Wednesday to send across a stern message

The proclivity of the cops to go online with reels and shorts in uniform to draw likes and followers has irked the Bihar police headquarters so much that it has cracked down on them, citing the violation of code of concur.

Bihar PHQ

An SHO of Woman police station in Purnea, Shabana Azmi, who was in controversy earlier also for letting her relatives occupy her police station chair and which went viral, was put under suspension on Wednesday to send across a stern message. She has 16k followers on Facebook and 212,000 on Instagram.

Sample this: Constable Archna Sahni of Samastipur (Instagram ID: cop_archana_sahni_9880) has 37.2k followers, excise Commando Dharmvir (excise_comando_dharmvir) 172k followers, cop Priyanka from Gaya (cop_priyanka01) has 38.9k followers and sub inspector Sigulshan1 has 12.9k followers, police_wala_87 has 36.2k followers and MAKSUD ANSARI (maksud_ansari_6520), Gopalganj have 8548 followers.

The list is long and their quick name to fame on the social media is not any act of bravery of exceptional work related to policing, but their reels flaunting ‘khaki’ in style for reels and shorts, but that has now invited the wrath of the top brass.

Following several complaints of police personnel misusing social media while on duty by creating reels and shorts, Bihar police headquarters (PHQ) has now issued a list of 50 such policemen with their respective links and photographs of the handle.

This includes 28 women in the rank of constable to sub-inspector posted with 20 districts, the PHQ directed the SSPs/SPs of all districts to take action against them and ensure strict adherence to the standard operating procedure (SOP).

The controversy comes despite clear instructions from PHQ, prohibiting police personnel from creating reels or personal videos in uniform for public circulation.

A detailed list with their pictures without naming anyone has been released by assistant inspector general (AIG-Welfare), vide an April 20 letter.

The PHQ also attached links of the relevant reels and videos along with the list, for action against the violators.

In the letter, the AIG clarified that making reels and videos in uniform and posting them on internet media is against the prescribed SOP. The Media Cell of PHQ found that many policemen are constantly making reels in uniform and sharing them on various platforms, which is affecting the department dignity.

Maximum number of 16 police personnel have been reported from Patna district in the list released by the PHQ, four each from Madhubani and Nalanda, two each from Darbhanga, Gaya, Purnea, Saran, Jamui and Nawada districts. Besides there is one each from Katihar, Gopalganj, Kishanganj, Saharsa, Sitamarhi and Munger districts.

The PHQ said that this step is necessary to maintain departmental discipline and dignity of the uniform. Now all the districts have been directed to take immediate action on such cases and ensure compliance of SOP.

Officials believe that after this strictness, there will be a clear message about the discipline of social media in the police department and such incidents can be prevented in the future.

An senior official of PHQ, familiar with the matter, told HT that, “Today’s era is dominated by social media, and most police personnel spend their time on it. They are constantly holding their phones, looking at them more than official files. Due to this phone addiction, investigation officers (IOs) get distracted, which also disturbs their mindset. If the officers remain focused on their duties, there will be no need to check the phone. Therefore, mobile usage will only be allowed for matters related to investigation or other official work.”

Bihar police chief Vinay Kumar said that creating reels in uniform not only amounts to indiscipline but is also against the department’s rules.

An SOP was issued after some police personnel uploaded Instagram reels and YouTube shorts of themselves dancing or acting in uniform.

“Uniform represents discipline, commitment, and dedication. Acts like this (reels on social media) damage the image. Creating reels about unrelated topics while in uniform and uploading them on social media will be considered a violation of the rules,” the DGP had earlier stated.