Day 68-2011 : Letter to DGP, Maharashtra (Abridged)

To,

The Director General of Police
Maharashtra.

Dear Sir,

I wish you to bring to your notice an incident that happened on Saturday, March 5, 2011 at Shirdi. I and my family members, names and ages attached, had travelled to Shirdi for Darshan on that day.

During the visit jewellery from my aunt’s purse was stolen. The jewellery was kept in a yellow pouch, in the purse carried by my aunt. The list of items stolen and their approximate value are attached herewith.

Following is the sequence of events:

1. We reached Shirdi and joined the queue for Darshan at 13.00 IST.
2. We reached the Sai Samadhi at the end of the queue at approximately 14.15 IST.
3. All of us came out and went to the donation office opposite the exit from the Sai Samadhi.
4. We realised that the jewellery has been stolen at the donation office at approximately 14.20 IST.
5. We immediately lodged a complaint with the temple Security Office.
6. When asked to review the footage from the CCTV cameras, the temple security office control room advised that we should lodge an FIR at the Shirdi police station, only after which we could see the CCTV footage.
7. We went to the Shirdi police station at approximately 16.30 IST to lodge the FIR.

On reaching the Shirdi police station, my aunt was first of all rebuked by the constables on duty for carrying the jewellery to the temple. When asked to lodge a FIR, we were told that ours is not the only such case that has happened; 10 such cases of theft are reported on a daily basis. When we still persisted on registering the FIR, we were told that nothing would come of it and it would be a futile exercise. Moreover, the authorities at the police station did not want to register a FIR because we were outsiders (from Mumbai) and they assumed that we would not come back to follow up on the case or when summoned. When this did not work, the officials on duty started threatening us by saying that we were asking for trouble and if we do not turn up when summoned for a follow up on the case, even warrants could be issued against us! We were also told that the FIR will not be lodged till the Police Inspector of the Shirdi Police Station comes back to the police station from his rounds, for which the ETA was not known. This was another delaying tactic used by the officials in the hope that we would abandon the thought of registering a police complaint. All along, the officials on duty were rude to my aunt, who is a senior citizen, and the rest of us. There was no empathy for the fact that a 68 year old lady had lost her jewellery and she would be mentally distressed due to this.

I would like to escalate this matter to you in your position as the head of the state’s police force. Instead of helping people in distress, the police force is being rude to them and do not have the sensitivity to deal with such cases. If the police force of the state behaves like this, I ask you, what is the recourse for the common man?

I request you to please intervene in this matter and help us find the stolen items of jewellery. I would also like to request you to please look into the matter of the misconduct of the police officials on duty at Shirdi Police Station on that day and take the appropriate action against them.

I hope to get a favourable and swift response from you.

Thanking you,

Yours Truly.

CC: The Superintendant of Police, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra

CC: Shri R. R. Patil, The Home Minister, Maharashtra