The Bengaluru police have suspended two of its officers on Wednesday for not responding to a distress call immediately.
Police Commissioner, Praveen Sood said that the two policemen argued about jurisdiction instead of attending the call.
“The control room reported the call to Hoysala from Indiranagar Police Station on Wednesday about two residents in the area involved in a fight. When the control room staff asked the policemen if the call had been attended to, they replied by saying that the issue had been handed over to the Ulsoor Police Station,” Sood said.
However, the constables had not handed over the issue to the jurisdictional police and also did not attend the call themselves.
The Hoysala (patrolling vehicle) had received the call from the control room, as it was the closest vehicle that could reach the location.
The assistant sub-inspector and the head constable were attached to the Indiranagar Police Station and were in charge of the vehicle.
They called the control room 20 minutes after the distress call was made and said that they had handed over the issue to the Ulsoor Police.
Police commissioner Praveen Sood said not responding to the incident was against the spirit of policing.
A recent revamping had brought all patrolling vehicles under the control room. When the control room receives a call, the closest patrolling vehicle is located via GPS and is alerted. The vehicle is then dispatched to the spot and in case of a serious crime, the police station is informed.
The police have issued show cause notices to the two policemen and are awaiting their reply.
“We have suspended them and will take further action based on their response,” DCP East, Ajay Hilori said.