A war of words broke out on Monday between a senior bureaucrat from Uttarakhand and a top police officer of the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh over some recent activities of the UP Police in the hill state.
Additional chief secretary (home), Uttarakhand, Radha Raturi said at a press conference that the UP Police often arrest innocent people and claim that they have solved the case.
“This is wrong. If you punish an innocent person, 99 other criminals are born. Right judgement should be made and right people should be punished,” Raturi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Soon after, Prashant Kumar, additional director general of UP Police (law and order), hit back saying all civil servants should refrain from making such statements, “especially if it's associated with the country's most sensitive state”.
“The Uttarakhand ACS Home has made a baseless and irresponsible statement… The UP Police has taken stern action against crime and criminals. The UP Police appeals to Uttarakhand govt to immediately stop passing such baseless and irresponsible statements,” Kumar said.
{{/usCountry}}“The Uttarakhand ACS Home has made a baseless and irresponsible statement… The UP Police has taken stern action against crime and criminals. The UP Police appeals to Uttarakhand govt to immediately stop passing such baseless and irresponsible statements,” Kumar said.
{{/usCountry}}Later, Raturi said all police departments are doing good work, while adding that she hoped no innocent is trapped in any case and police take action against only the guilty.
“What was discussed during the press conference was that when a crime happens, the investigation should be done in a fair way and stern action should be taken against the guilty,” she said.
“All state police, including the UP Police and Uttarakhand Police, are doing good work. I hope no innocent is trapped in any case & police should take action against only the guilty,” Raturi added.
Recently, a local BJP leader's wife was killed in Uttarakhand's Udham Singh Nagar district when the Uttar Pradesh Police made an unsuccessful attempt to nab a sand mining mafia. Days later, he was arrested after a brief encounter in Moradabad district.