Cops told not to note down calls by politicians

If the Maharashtra police have their way, soon there will be no records of which politician called a police station to influence action taken in a case.

If the Maharashtra police have their way, soon there will be no records of which politician called a police station to influence action taken in a case.

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A notification, issued by the office of the state director general of police, D Sivanandhan, on November 18, instructs police stations across the state not to make note of calls or visits of legislators or ministers in station diaries. The notification is binding on police stations.

The Hindustan Times has a copy of the notification, which tells officers in charge of police stations to only make notings about visits of senior police officers, as prescribed in the Police Manual.

Sivanandhan did not respond to calls and text messages. Gulabrao Pol, special inspector general of police who has signed the notification, refused to comment saying he was busy with VIP visits.

The notification was issued a month before the Supreme Court reprimanded former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and penalised the state Rs10 lakh for protecting Gokulchand Sananda, a moneylender and father of Congress legislator from Buldhana, Dilip Sananda, from arrest in 2006.

Farmers complained against Sananda for charging high interest. Deshmukh’s secretary had called the Khamgaon police to tell them not to register a case against Sananda. An officer had entered details of these calls in the station diary.