Shiv Sena warns of further unrest in state police department

In the wake of the homicide and suicide of two police personnel which has shocked Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena on Monday sounded a note of warning about more incidents of unrest in the state police department.

It pointed out how Mumbai police, which fought Pakistani terrorists and sacrificed lives during the November 26, 2008, terror attacks, are now killing one another for issues like leave from duty.

"Like the farmers in the state, the number of suicides among even the police force is increasing. Will the home department shut the file by treating it as a simple case of homicide and suicide among colleagues?" the Shiv Sena asked in an editorial in the party's mouthpiece Saamana.

Such incidents - like on last Saturday when Assistant Sub-Inspector Dilip Shirke availed leave without informing the office and later in a fit of rage, shot dead Senior Police Inspector Vilas Joshi before committing suicide inside the Vakola police station - can disturb the mental equilibrium of the entire police force, it pointed out.

"When those very persons who are entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order lose their mental balance, then in future the repercussions can be horrific," the Sena warned.

The edit also referred to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis -- who holds the home portfolio -- and said that contrary to perceptions about him being a "part-time home minister", he was actually an 'over-time home minister'.

The Sena said the police department, working over time, is losing control and colleagues are killing one another and committing suicide "and it will be better if all this can be stopped".

Last week's incident follows two recent cases of a policeman being arrested along with his wife in a multi-crore drug scandal and two inspectors raping a upcoming model inside a police station, which dented the image of Mumbai police.