Interview

March 23, 1997

THE WEEK

Khodays may get prime land

Paswanji wants you in Delhi," was the Prime Minister's answer when Karnataka Director-General of Police A.P. Durai complained about his abrupt transfer to the Railway Protection Force recently. Ramvilas Paswan must be an exception. for few politicians have been happy with Durai's righteous ways. And Durai has angered more politicians by openly accusing them of engineering his ouster barely five months after he became the DGP.
One of the youngest to enter the IPS (he was only 20), Durai says he is paying the price for opposing political interference in police administration. He blames powerful forces in the state and at the Centre for his transfer, his 24th in 35 years. Excerpts from an interview:
Question: What caused your sudden transfer?
Answer: I won't say it was sudden. It gained momentum over a month or two. The reason was that I was trying to stem the tide of political interference in the day-to-day administration of the police force.
Such interference has been going on for a long time.
Yes, since the last 15 years or so. Local politicians decide which sub-inspector should be posted in their areas. I had been watching this rather helplessly. When you are in the middle management level it is very difficult to stop this practice. The moment you act you are at the receiving end. The same happened to K.C.K. Raja when he tried to clean the system. (Raja was replaced as DGP in 1983.)
What was the reason?
DGP Garudhachar had sent a message asking all IPS officers to declare their caste and sub-caste. This was revolting. I wrote to him that I did not belong to any caste. I knew that politicians were using such information to get officers of their caste posted in their areas. This started in 1983 and became institutionalised. Only one police chief, S.N.S. Murthy, tried to break this practice.
An officer who gets a posting at the instance of an MLA cannot displease the MLA or his followers. Indian films showing senior police officers as politicians' henchmen indicates that the police have become tools in the hands of the political and criminal mafia. I antagonised many politicians by resisting certain orders that came through the chief minister's office.
How did you resist these orders?
Whenever a request for a transfer came I examined it on its merit and sought the opinion of the DIG of the range and the SP. Very often they reported that there was no need for the transfer. When we continued this. It was presumed we were unwilling to carry out the orders. I also reprimanded nearly a 100 officers for exerting political pressure as this was a violation of the conduct rules.
So are politicians at fault.....
No, the fault is mostly ours. Most officers go to the politicians and often pay them. It is a business, and I tried to stop it. But there were other reasons for my removal.
What were they?
The Khodays were eyeing four acres of prime property which houses the offices of DIG Central Range and SP, Bangalore. Before I took charge as DGP, the Khodays had opened a gate from Cunningham Road and put up a structure with a board, "LK Trust'. This was in April. The land belonged to a Nepali rana, and when he left India, the police department took the building on rent. After some years when there were no claimants for the rent it was deposited in the revenue office. It is now over 30 years and, on the basis of adverse position, the property belongs to the police department. But the Khodays entered into a sale agreement allegedly with the descendants of the rana for one or two crore rupees. All this when no one had come directly to claim any rent! The Khodays then asked the police department to vacate the place and filed a petition. The High court did not heed their request.
My predecessors had told DIG Nagaraj about the structure Khodays had constructed. He ignored it. After taking over as DGP I told the SP to demolish the structure. When this was done I got an anxious call from the chief minister. With my removal the Khodays may still get the property.
Was Delhi involved in your removal?
The Delhi connection was there. A transfer, which normally takes a week to a month, was processed quickly. They found a post in Delhi and packed me off with a promotion.
Reports say that your letter about removing SPG cover for the PM's family was a reason for your transfer.
That linkage in the press was not true. The PM himself felt unhappy about resources being spent on security for his family. So one of his staff in the PMO said that the PM would like to have my views. The home ministry says that you have to provide Z-plus security for the family. But I have said that Z-plus security is not mentioned in the SPG act. Z-plus security is not mentioned in the SPG act. Z-plus is the interpretation on the home ministry. We have to assess the threat perception and provide appropriate security. Security required in Delhi may not be required in Bangalore.
But why does Paswan want you in Delhi?
That is for you to find out.

R.PRADEEP MENON