Hand in Glove - Politicians, Police and Criminals

The nexus between criminals and the police is exposed further, if any proof was needed, with the article below in "the Telegraph". The collusion and bonding between politicians, police and criminals is becoming stronger with each passing day.
Criminals are caught, in most cases, by the public and not by the police who willingly turn a blind eye to their crimes.
Why are the policemen who allow criminals to escape just suspended and not sacked, without any further enquiry?

Radheshyam

Cops leave door open for escape
A STAFF REPORTER


Two undertrials waiting for a court hearing on Monday couldn’t believe their luck when their police escorts left them unguarded in a prison van with the rear door and the collapsible gate open.

Raju Paswan and Rajesh Prajapati slid open the collapsible gate, jumped out and melted into the crowd in front of Bankshal court moments after assistant sub-inspector Manoj Kumar Chakraborty entered the premises and constable Raghunath Digar went to relieve himself.

By the time some policemen deployed in front of the court realised what was happening, Raju and Rajesh were gone. A third undertrial, Subrata Banerjee, was caught just after he had alighted from the van.

“It was around 11.30am. Chakraborty had entered the court premises to complete some official formalities before the scheduled hearing and the constable headed for the toilet after opening the rear door of the van. The undertrials realised the collapsible gate was open as well and jumped out,” an officer said.

The detective department had arrested the trio in 2005 for a chain of robberies allegedly masterminded by Raju, a repeat offender in his mid-30s. All three were in Presidency jail.

The two policemen who had escorted them from the jail to Bankshal court on Monday are from the Reserve Force. Joint commissioner of police Pradip Chattopadhyay said departmental proceedings had been initiated against the duo.

“It appears to be a case of dereliction of duty and we aren’t taking it lightly,” said Chattopadhyay.

This isn’t the first instance of undertrials and criminals escaping from police custody in Calcutta. In February, a man who had been arrested for theft fled the Taltala police station lock-up when a constable opened the gate to give him dinner. An embarrassed police department had kept the incident under wraps for nearly a week.

Another suspected thief had fled Park Street police station in June when two policemen were taking him to the interrogation room. He was, however, traced to a relative’s house a few hours later.

A team from the detective department raided several places in search of Raju and Rajesh but there was no trace of either till late on Monday. Raju’s mother, who was summoned to Hare Street police station, said she was unaware that her son had escaped from a prison van.

Raju used to be a snatcher preying on morning walkers in and around Jorabagan before he formed a gang.The detective department stalked the gang after it looted a jewellery store on Nimtolla Ghat Street.