6 Jamtara cops suspended as police failed to crack back-to-back jewellery loot cases

Dumka: Jamtara SP Rajkumar Mehta on Sunday evening suspended six police personnel, including the officers in charge of town and Mihijam police stations, for negligence in their duties. Their suspensions came as the police face intense criticisms from the local traders for failing to arrest those who looted two jewellery stores in back-to-back incidents last week.“Crime control is the primary responsibility of the police, and negligence at any level will not be tolerated. Repeated incidents in the police station areas raised serious questions about the police efficiency. Therefore, strict action against the officers responsible was necessary to ensure discipline and accountability,” Mehta said.Besides inspector Santosh Kumar, the officer-in-charge (OC) of the town police station, Mihijam OC Ajay Kumar (sub-inspector) was suspended alongside constables Parmeshwar Mandal and Manbodh Kumar Singh. Two constables of the tiger mobile team (responsible for night patrolling), Nishant Chakraborty and Pradeep Das, were also suspended. “Negligence in patrolling directly impacts public safety and will be dealt with firmly,” the SP said.On December 24, four masked men looted jewellery worth several lakh of rupees from the Balaji Jewellers in Jamtara. They also shot at the owner Aman Verma while fleeing. The following day, another jewellery store was looted in Mihijam. No arrests have been made in both the cases.