Bulletproof-jackets file found, 3 clerks in dock

The file connected to the purchase of bulletproof jackets, which was reported missing from the police commissioner’s office for months, has resurfaced.

The file connected to the purchase of bulletproof jackets, which was reported missing from the police commissioner’s office for months, has resurfaced. Three clerks of the Mumbai Police purchase department now face suspension, sources in the commissioner’s office said.

HT Image

“The inquiry [into the missing file] is complete. A report has been sent to the Home department, which may take a decision tomorrow,” said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Police sources said the file was found in the office of the DCP (HQ I) and the three clerks facing action were in charge of the file. The inquiry, conducted by Additional Commissioner of Police (Operations) Sandeep Bishnoi, found that the file was in the office all this while. Bishnoi said: “I have strict instructions not to speak to the media [on the subject].”

Police sources told Hindustan Times that some pages of the file are missing, while other pages from the file have been found in other files.

The inquiry report has annoyed Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Chandra Iyenger, who called a meeting last week and made her displeasure clear. Police sources said she was upset with the timing of the file’s resurfacing — it was found only after purchase orders for fresh supplies of bulletproof jackets were issued.

The issue began following a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by social activist Santosh Daundkar, alleging irregularity in the purchase of what it claimed were substandard bulletproof jackets for the Mumbai Police, which it suggested had led to the death of top level officers in last year’s terror attack.

The PIL said the jackets were purchased from NTB Hi Tech Ceramics, a company that it said is not in the business of producing specialised nylon-based armour for bulletproof jackets, instead manufacturing only industrial ceramics.

The first batch of jackets sent by NTB was returned since it did not meet specifications. By December 2004, NTB re-supplied the jackets, which were then used on 26/11 last year.

In April, when Daundkar sought information about the jackets from the CP’s office, he was told the file was missing.

Without a preliminary enquiry, then CM Vilasrao Deshmukh had said there had been no malpractice in the purchase of the jackets, and that the charges were baseless, the PIL added.

(Inputs from Urvi Mahajani)