BENGALURU: The sensational daylight robbery of Rs 7.11 crore from a cash van on a Bengaluru road on November 19 has become far more than a crime story. It has exposed deep-rooted misadministration and systemic failure in policing under the present government, raising troubling questions about oversight, accountability and erosion of public trust.
The audacity of the crime itself was shocking. Men dressed with confidence, flashing forged credentials resembling those of the Reserve Bank of India and the Income Tax Department, stopped a cash van and walked away with crores in minutes. What followed stunned the public even more: a serving police constable attached to Govindarajanagar police station was allegedly part of the conspiracy. Within 60 hours, arrests were made, the constable was suspended and detained, and investigators confirmed insider involvement.
This was not an isolated aberration. Data from the Karnataka police department paints a grim picture of widespread indiscipline and criminality within the force. In the first 11 months of the year alone, 236 police personnel were suspended across the state, with more than half posted in Bengaluru city. In just the last ten months, 124 officers — including 10 inspectors, 16 sub-inspectors, 16 assistant sub-inspectors, 41 head constables and 41 constables — were suspended for alleged involvement in crimes ranging from robbery and corruption to dereliction of duty and drug-related offences.
Even more alarming is the fact that 42 serving policemen are currently facing criminal cases involving serious offences such as dacoity, kidnapping, extortion and robbery. Senior officers privately admit that the scale of misconduct has shaken the department’s leadership and dented morale among honest personnel.
This crisis of governance forced Director General and Inspector General of Police M.A. Saleem to issue an unusually blunt circular earlier this month. In it, he warned that public trust in the police was eroding rapidly. “Our police are getting arrested for robbing victims of gold, planning dacoity, kidnapping victims for ransom,” he wrote, calling for urgent restoration of discipline, integrity and transparency. Such language from the state’s top police officer itself underlines the gravity of administrative failure.
Case after case highlights how police authority is being misused against ordinary citizens. In December, a head constable posted at the Cyber Crime Police Station inside the Bengaluru City Police Commissioner’s Office compound was booked for theft after allegedly stealing Rs 11 lakh in cash and valuables from a seized vehicle. He later admitted to taking the money home without informing superiors.
In Davanagere, two sub-inspectors were arrested for allegedly robbing a jewellery artisan of a gold bar and ring under the guise of official action. In another disturbing instance, a constable in Bengaluru district was suspended and arrested for allegedly extorting money from ragpickers and pourakarmikas — among the city’s most vulnerable workers — in exchange for protection.
There have also been custodial excesses. In October, a domestic help summoned to Varthur police station over a theft allegation was allegedly detained and assaulted by three police personnel, resulting in injuries and a medico-legal case. All three were suspended, but the incident again highlighted the absence of effective supervision.
The most recent case, emerging this week, further exposes rot at the grassroots. A PSI in Bengaluru South district allegedly threatened a juice and Xerox shop owner with a false Aadhaar fraud case, forcibly took ₹1.6 lakh, and let him off without registering any complaint. Only after the victim approached senior authorities did an inquiry take place, leading to the PSI’s suspension.
While Home Minister G. Parameshwara has warned that corrupt policemen will be dismissed after verification, critics argue that these assurances come far too late. Suspensions and circulars cannot substitute for structural reforms, political will and day-to-day supervision. The sheer frequency of such cases suggests not just individual wrongdoing, but administrative neglect that has allowed misconduct to thrive.
