PUNE, 27 August 2007 — The Maharashtra government has taken action against police officers who ignored the rules of conduct by shaking hands and hugging actor Sanjay Dutt at the gates of Yerawada Central Prison in Pune, when he was released on Aug. 23.
Departmental action has been taken against 10 policemen and the officer who hugged the actor has been suspended.
Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R R Patil ordered a detailed inquiry into the incident after news channels aired footage of the police officers — who were stationed to keep the media away — pushing past one another to shake hands with the jailed actor.
Senior police officers condemned the behavior by saying that being over friendly with a convict is a serious violation of the rules of conduct, which strictly prohibits police officers from socializing with convicts.
Dutt, 48, was recently freed on bail after being sentenced to a six-year jail term for buying illegal arms from gangsters linked to India’s worst-ever bombings in 1993 in Mumbai that killed 257 people.