Top cop’s list of ‘heroes’ leaves officers fuming

Bihar director general of police Abhayanand’s list of five heroes in the police force has left many who didn't make the cut sulking, with some even taking the Facebook route to insist the list is not the last word on efficient officers. HT reports.

Bihar director general of police Abhayanand’s list of five heroes in the police force has left many who didn't make the cut sulking, with some even taking the Facebook route to insist the list is not the last word on efficient officers.

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In an article titled ‘Five Heroes Of Bihar Police’ that appeared in Bureaucracy Today, a magazine on Indian bureaucracy and related areas, Abhayanand, who took charge last year, commends five officers for their exemplary contribution towards tackling crime and Naxalism in the state.

The magazine, however, has published only four names — Rohtas superintendent of police (SP) Manu Maharaj, Aurangabad SP Sidhartha Mohan Jain, Jamui SP Upendra Kumar Sharma, and Vikas Vaibhav, an officer now on central deputation.

The fifth ‘hero’ has only been identified as a woman.

The list stirred a controversy after Abhayanand posted the article on Facebook. Many IPS officers said they felt it implied that those not on the list were less worthy.

“To post just five heroes from a contingent of 164 IPS officers may be just the personal choice of the DGP. Several SPs have made remarkable contributions to controlling crime, community policing and even in countering naxalism,” a senior police officer attached with the state police headquarters posted on Facebook. Another SP-rank officer posted in north Bihar said, “The administration must be impartial. To pick favourites is to demoralise many, without justification. A leader cannot have favourites in the public domain, even if the opinion is private.”