Udupi police official suspended for not registering FIR

 A police sub-inspector in Udupi was suspended on Monday after an internal inquiry found that the officer had failed to register a First Information Report (FIR) or inform higher authorities about an incident which occurred earlier this month. 

Ananta Padmanabha, sub-inspector at Udupi Town police station was suspended for inaction over the incident which took place at the Ajjarkad Park in Udupi on November 2. An FIR was registered in connection with the incident three days later on November 5. 

As per the complaint, at around 8 pm on November 2, three men and a woman were sitting inside the park when a group of men confronted them and asked them to show their ID cards. It was alleged that the group of people including two people known to the complainants, and six others belonging to a different community, assaulted the people sitting inside the park.  

According to the police, the head constable of the Udupi Town police station reached the spot and even though complaints were raised, an FIR was not registered in the incident.  

"A complaint given at the time was not taken up as per procedure. The incident was not reported to any senior officer and it came to our knowledge only on November 5, three days later, when the issue was misreported in the news," Udupi SP Nisha James told TNM. 

She added that the complainants approached the police station again to file a complaint in connection with the incident but an FIR was not registered. The FIR was later registered on the night of November 5 and the SI involved in inquiring the incident was suspended on Monday after an internal probe was conducted on the matter. The accused were charged under sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.

The suspension of the SI, however, took a political turn when Udupi's BJP MLA Raghupathi Bhat called for the suspension to be revoked. 

"The suspension of the station inspector of Udupi by the SP under pressure from some groups is not right. I will inform Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai about this. Udupi SI Anantha Padmanabha should immediately return to duty. Suspend him if he has done something wrong and not due to pressure.", he said in a social media post. He suggested

The SI was also publicly backed by Congress leader and former state minister Pramod Madhwaraj. "He is a good official and his suspension should be revoked. It appears he has tried to resolve the issue and did not want it to flare up," he told TNM.

However, Udupi SP Nisha James said that action was initiated against the SI for not following procedure.