Drunk cop swears at ACP, on wireless

from delhi newsline

Head constable on PCR van takes call, abuses ACP as entire force listens in.
Tushar Srivastava

New Delhi, May 30: WHEN an ACP called up a head constable posted with the Police Control Room unit on Saturday night to rush him to a crime spot, this is what he got instead — a 10-minute tirade of abuse.

The shocked ACP listened, as did the rest of Delhi Police, as the head constable used the choicest of expletives till he was stopped by the staff of other PCR vans who rushed to him after being ordered by seniors to reach the spot and bring him under control.

Head constable Munni Lal’s defence: ‘‘It was his son’s birthday so he had consumed alcohol that night, but otherwise he had never misbehaved on duty’’.

The head constable, Munni Lal, has been suspended with immediate effect.

The incident, which played out on the wireless as the entire force tuned in, has been viewed very seriously by the Delhi Police top brass ‘‘as it not only sets a bad precedent for others but makes a mockery of the disciplinary force that the Delhi Police touts itself to be’’, a senior officer said.

The incident comes after the suspension of six PCR van cops after they failed to intercept a car in ‘Operation Black Rose’ carried out after the Dhaula Kuan gangrape.

The incident took place on Saturday night and Lal was accompanied by two other officers in the van posted in the south district and on duty between Mehrauli and Aaya Nagar. ‘‘There was a PCR call and since this particular PCR was the nearest, it was directed to reach the spot and report back the details,’’ the officer said.

Instead, Lal abused his senior on the wireless. When he did not stop for the next 10 minutes, other PCRs in the neighbouring areas were told to rush to it.

All three policemen in the van were taken to AIIMS. ‘‘Lal was found to be under heavy influence of alcohol and we have suspended him,’’ DCP A.K. Singh (incharge of PCR unit), told Newsline.