Bangalore Mirror: Bangalore: Thursday, May 18, 2017.
The mystery
of the missing service revolver belonging to former DG and IGP Ajai Kumar Singh
is likely to end soon more than a decade the revolver went missing.
The State
Information Commission has issued a show-cause notice to Public Information
Officer (PIO), city police commissionerate, directing him to file a factual
report on the missing service revolver and all details pertaining to it by May
12.
This comes
after an assistant PIO disclosed vital aspects orally before the commission,
including the whereabouts of the service revolver which the former DG and IG
had lost, but failed to file the same in writing after seeking time of two
days.
The case
The case
pertains to a series of RTI applications social activist Bhaskaran has filed.
On 24 July 2013, Bhaskaran had first sought details of firearm that had been
issued to and then taken back from the former DG and IG. On 3 December 2013, he
had sought details of the FIR and the charge sheet regarding the loss or theft
of the firearm.
Then on 27
January 2014, he had sought information pertaining to three letters the former
DG and IG had written prior to retirement in Jan 2011 pertaining to the
revolver to then city commissioner Shankar Bidari.
Though
details of the revolver, a 9 mm Belgian pistol that had been issued by city
armed reserve, and details regarding the FIR, that no FIR had been registered,
were provided along with an official memorandum by then city commissioner
Shankar Bidari on Jan 28, 2011. The commissioner had directed the armoury to
round off the entry pertaining to the service revolver against Rs10,312 Singh
had paid to the government. Although, the three letters Singh had written pertaining
to the missing revolver were not provided.
Bhaskaran had
then filed an appeal before the information commission. The commission, which
has been hearing the case, had heard it last on April 11. Though certain
details have been shared, including the final rounding off entry, what happened
to the service revolver after it went missing is not known till date.
Down the
rabbit hole?
While the PIO
of the commissioner’s office had asked for two days to file a document with the
requested information pertaining to the missing service revolver, no such
document was filed.
Following
this, the information commission has shot a missive stating that no information
has been filed till April 25. It has asked the assistant public information
officer to show cause as to why a detailed report on the missing revolver has
not been submitted. It has asked the assistant PIO to file his justification in
writing. “Dr Anoop Shetty, DCP and PIO, police commissioner’s office is hereby
directed to file factual report on the same,” the state information
commissioner L Krishna Murthy had ordered posting the matter for May 12.
Social
activist Bhaskaran said, “Dr Singh has been one of the finest officers we have
ever had. I pursue the case because it was his service revolver which had gone
missing. Nobody knew what happened to it. Nor were there efforts to trace it.
What if it lands up in the wrong hands? There are several such questions and
information has been provided partly. Now that they are set to file some
factual papers which would answer all these questions, I’m looking forward to
it.”
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