Telangana cop celebrates Cong leader's birthday in police station, shunted

Hyderabad, Sep 9 (IANS) A police officer in Telangana’s Sangareddy district has been ordered to report to the office of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) after he celebrated a Congress leader's birthday in the police station.

Orders have been issued directing Vatpally Sub-Inspector Laxman from Sangareddy district to immediately report to the Multi-Zone II IGP office, according to a statement from the office of the Director General of Police on Monday.

Senior Police officials have taken serious note of the incident where a Congress party leader's birthday was celebrated, and a cake was cut at the police station.

Multi-Zone II IGP V. Satyanarayana has stated that disciplinary action will be taken as soon as the report on the incident is received.

The birthday of Congress party’s Metpally mandal president Pratap Ramesh Joshi was celebrated in the police station on Sunday. The SI and a constable cut the cake along with the Congress leader.

The incident in the Andole constituency evoked criticism from various quarters. The SI came under flak for organising the birthday celebration in the police station.

This is the second such incident in the state in recent weeks. Last month, a few policemen in Warangal, including Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Nandiram Naik attended the birthday celebration of Minister for Forests and Environment and Endowments, Konda Surekha.

The event, which included cake-cutting and a speech by the ACP, sparked a row with the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) raising questions on the police’s adherence to service rules and political neutrality.

The ACP, Circle Inspector (CI) and some other police personnel attended the birthday celebrations of the Minister.

The celebration had also triggered chaos when the minister’s supporters set off firecrackers, causing injury to a girl.

BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao slammed the police officers and asked the DGP if service rules have changed recently.

Warangal Police Commissioner Ambar Kishore Jha had issued a show cause notice to ACP Naik.