RTI activist raises doubt on cop vests

The Telegraph India: Guwahati: Sunday, August 19, 2018.

Assam RTI activist Dulal Bora has raised questions about the quality of the bullet-proof jackets being used by the Assam police.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Bora said information obtained by him through RTI Act has revealed that quality was compromised when bullet-proof jackets were purchased for Assam police in 2011-12, which has put the lives of the policemen in danger.

Doubts were expressed over the efficacy of the bullet-proof jackets supplied to the police force after the death of officer-in-charge of Bordumsa police station, Bhaskar Kalita, in an encounter with Ulfa (Independent) militants in Upper Assam's Tinsukia district in May this year. Two bullets had pierced the vest worn by Kalita.

Bora said in the notice inviting tender issued for procurement of bullet-proof jackets by Assam police in 2012, it was specified that the jackets "should conform to NIJ (National Institute of Justice) standard-0101.04 of ballistic resistance of personal body armour".

He said according to NIJ standard-0101.04, there should be four to nine armour plates depending on the type of the of the bullet-proof jacket but the technical committee constituted for procurement of the jackets by Assam police recommend purchase of a jacket with two armour plates from a Bangalore-based firm.

Bora said the procurement was made under supervision of then additional director-general of police A.K. Jha.

He demanded a high-level inquiry into the procurement process and threatened to take legal recourse if the state government refrains for ordering an inquiry.

Jha, who is currently posted as special director-general of police (CID), said he could not recall the details of the purchase.

"But I can say that everything was done following due process and by taking proper approval with the best of intentions," he said.

Another police officer said that the bullet-proof jackets were tested at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Chandigarh and it has not yet been established that the quality of the jacket was responsible for death of Kalita.