Jharkhand’s Leader of the Opposition and BJP State President, Babulal Marandi, has launched a scathing critique against the Jharkhand Police, alleging a pattern of disregarding established rules and procedures. Marandi specifically highlighted a case in Ranchi where the review of a serious criminal investigation, originating from the Gonda and Namkum police stations, was delegated to the DIG (Budget). He questioned why senior officials based in the capital, including the SSP, DIG, and IG, were seemingly bypassed for this task, suggesting it points to either incompetence or a deliberate sidestepping of authority. The decision to involve a financial specialist in a criminal review, Marandi argued, signals a profound operational failure and a violation of departmental norms.
Marandi also decried the alleged diversion of trained personnel from their core duties. He pointed to the government’s alleged push to assign female constables of IRB/JAP battalions to clerical jobs in police stations, a move that allegedly removes more than 15% of these forces from armed duty and contradicts their specialized training. This contrasts sharply, he noted, with the assignment of a sensitive case review to the budget department. Marandi stated that officials in Ranchi found unfit for basic investigative tasks should be dismissed. He further raised concerns about the potential for a wider trend of reassigning personnel to non-core functions, questioning if JAP personnel might eventually be moved to accounting departments, thereby jeopardizing public safety and state security capabilities. He concluded by describing the situation as a ‘dark era’ where rules and regulations are ignored, drawing a parallel to the alleged continuation of a retired IPS officer in the DGP’s post in defiance of service laws.
