Andhra Pradesh police image not dented: DGP

Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police D G Sawang on Wednesday denied that the image of the force has taken a beating particularly in the last one year and termed it a mere perception.

On the Andhra Pradesh High Court pulling up the department, he said no observations of the court could be commented upon.

He was replying to questions at the annual press conference at the state police headquarters here on criticism from various quarters.

That is only a talkits not a fact. Image (taking a) beating in what sense? If someone is saying something... it doesnt become the truth, doesnt become the fact, the DGP observed, Stressing that transparency and accountability were the guiding principles of their functioning, the DGP said they were ready for an introspection if there was something amiss.

If you find that there is something wrong, tell us. We will introspect. We shall do the introspection and correct ourselves. If there is a mistake, we will agree. We will accept. We will not hide, Sawang said.

He said Police should not get affected and get carried away over such talk.

On courts, the DGP noted they have to simply listen to whatever the court observes "because those comments cannot be commented (upon)." Sawang said it was a debatable point.

There is a lot of discussion going on with regard to the comments made on the Bench. So we have all respect. We have to pay respect to the system. These are all constitution- enshrined institutions. We have the highest respect and regards, he said.

The DGP said they could not engage in a discussion on such comments and labels and "the force needs to be sensitised on how to deal with such criticism.

The high court had come down on the state police over some case, including over detention of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu at Visakhapatnam airport on February 27 and action against protesters in Amaravati.

In September, the court had said the DGP should resign if he could not control the police, the observation coming over a case of alleged illegal detention of a man.