Kolkata: Duty officers at police stations will now be held responsible if civic volunteers use vehicles allocated to the force. The duty officer may even be show caused and has to give a reply within a week, said an officer. The use of KP or the force’s logo has also been prohibited on vehicles used by civic cops.
The move follows the use of police bikes by civic volunteer Sanjay Roy who has been arrested in the RG Kar rape-murder case, and another civic volunteer, Gangasagar Gond, arrested last week after he rode into a Rabindra Bharati University protest at BT Road in an inebriated condition.
According to police sources, civic volunteers often used police motorcycles, not just on duty but also when they were commuting for personal work. If a civic volunteer is assigned patrolling duty, they have to now be accompanied by a constable or police officer. No civic volunteer is permitted to ride police motorcycles alone.
Kolkata Police had earlier accepted that the bike used by Roy belonged to Kolkata Police. They clarified the bike was allotted to ASI Arup Dutta of KP. An inquiry has been started as to why Dutta allowed Roy to use the bike.