Police-politician nexus a threat to force: KPA

TIRUR: The Kerala Police Association has come out strongly against police-politician nexus at a discussion organised as part of its state meet here on Thursday.The delegates opined that close links between some police personnel and political leaders was a threat to the force which should be seriously considered by the department as well as the government.“There are cops who are acting as aides of political leaders. They are spying for the leaders and even handing over confidential reports to them,” a leader of the KPA said, seeking anonymity.It is also learnt that information about the police officials who lathicharge political workers during violent protests is being given to the leaders. The KPA is considering it as a threat to the solidarity of the force. The cops are also receiving threats from political parties and miscreants.The KPA has decided to take stern action against the officials who are involved in bribery, nepotism and illegal activities like sand mining. The association will not give organisational or legal support to such personnel, and they will be brought to justice.The KPA, through a resolution, requested the government to stop direct recruitment of sub-inspectors, and promote civil police officers to fill the posts.The association also wanted to fix the duty time as eight hours and increase the strength of the force to suit that shift.Another request was to upgrade the training programme of police constables.  The KPA noted that the force is not equipped to handle cyber crime. They urged the government to include modern facilities in the training programme of new batches.The seminar scheduled for Thursday as part of the meet had been cancelled due to the hartal.Former leaders of the association will be honoured at a function to be held on Friday. Besides, a cultural seminar will be held at Thunchanparamba.