Khopde, author of several books in Marathi, and best known for his latest controversial book “Mumbai burnt, but why not Bhiwandi town?” in a press conference held here on Wednesday alleged that senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers in the Maharashtra Police, like Additional Director General of Police Satyapal Singh, are casteist and are victims of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The seniors are not willing to change and they criticize those who want to bring in change, Khopde said.
Khopde, also an IPS officer from the state cadre, lashed out at the direct Regular Recruitment (RR) IPS lobby after the state Director General of Police Ajit Parasnis indicated to the media recently the possibility of departmental action being taken against Khopde for writing the book. An upset Parasnis at a police function in Pune suggested to Khopde to quit the police force and contest elections if he wanted to bring about a change.
In the book, Khopde laid the blame at the doors of IPS officers for not implementing proper policing. Khopde had also criticized his colleague, Pune Police Commissioner Meeran Borwankar, alleging that she was not taking proper steps for the security of the city.
Reacting to Parasnis' comments, Khopde said that after his book was released in January, Satyapal Singh, who was additional director general, sent a notice to him seeking clarification on why departmental action should not be taken against him. Replying to Singh’s notice on March 3, Khopde told Singh: “Without reading my book you are threatening to take a departmental action against me on the basis of media reports. Hence, I believe that officers like you are victims of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These are the symptoms shown by people suffering from PTSD. All over the world, it is seen that police and ambulance staff suffer from this disorder. Following certain stressful events such as bomb blasts, terrorist attacks, they go numb with fear,” Khopde added.
Khopde stressed that the state police system has become outdated and needs urgent reforms and is in dire need of change, but top bureaucrats are resisting it. The top cop said that he was dauntless and fearless and was sharing the details with the media as he had nothing to fear and had spoken out for the improvement of the police system.
“I have been saying time and again that the police administration in the state has become archaic. They need reforms urgently. There are talks about lack of arms and bulletproof jackets, but the policeman himself is being ignored and no steps are being taken to improve his qualities. Improving the qualities of the policemen will also help in handling terrorism differently. And I have pointed out all such things in my book, which are based on studying models which are successfully implemented. If I am making statements which are scientific in nature, then I don’t need to take permission from anybody,” Khopde asserted.
Khopde denied that he had any plans to enter politics and said that he will continue to work for the improvement of the police force. However, Khopde's outbursts had created a stir in the police force, which is dominated by Upper Caste Hindus with the Lower Caste Hindus being in a very small minority.
