WHERE THE POLICE ACT AS JUDGE, JURY EXECUTIONER

THE Telangana police department is investigating its own intelligence officials for spying and destruction of evidence collected during unauthorised operations on political leaders. The change in administration resulted in a change in how the police function. But nobody knows what rules and procedures the police follow, as there has been no publicly available manual for Telangana since its formation. The department hasn't shared it even under an RTI request.

- SRINIVAS KODALI

The police across India need to follow rules framed by state laws and criminal procedure codes. But these very procedures have become invisible over time with unaccountable practices emerging with no oversight and accountability. The Telangana police, in particular, have evolved their own procedures with blessings from their political masters. During the term of Bharat Rashtra Samithi, the then Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao provided all the necessary resources to police in return for their allegiance.

Over the last decade, the Telangana police have conducted large-scale preventive detention of anyone planning to protest under Section 151 of CrPC. No one could dream of protesting in a state that was carved out as a result of large-scale protests. Preventive detentions are quite common, including under the infamous Telangana Preventive Detention Act, which has been consistently criticised by the Supreme Court. The law is still being used to preventively detain people while the Model Code of Conduct is in place.

The Telangana police are one of the most advanced police departments in the world. The need to acquire this capacity came as a consequence of internal security threats posed by Naxalism and terrorism. The force's modernisation is of particular interest to international investors, political leaders and the Union home ministry which closely assisted and promoted policing experiments in Hyderabad.