The police have recently been in news more often for breaking the law rather than catching criminals, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashok said on Tuesday, referring to videos showing Director-General of Police K. Ramachandra Rao behaving indecently with women in his chamber.
“The officer is known to be close to the Home Minister and despite multiple instances of serious misconduct, this government has not taken any action against him. This raises suspicions that the government is protecting him,” he said.
Home Minister G. Parameshwara spoke tough on Tuesday and said the suspension was only an immediate action and the government could even dismiss Mr. Rao from service based on the outcome of the inquiry. He also tried to distance himself from Mr. Rao. He said he had consciously not met the officer in the given circumstances.
Mr. Ashok said that the case of Mr. Rao was not only an individual case, but represented the moral downfall of the entire police department. “Drug mafia has spread even to villages. While our police take no action, the police from neighbouring States are making arrests here. ATM and bank robberies are on the rise, but our police have both failed to control them and crack these cases. There is rampant corruption and police personnel themselves are caught in criminal cases,” he said, demanding that the Chief Minister take the resignation of Dr. Parameshwara on moral grounds.
At the recently held annual IPS officers’ meeting, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah himself said that in 2025, police personnel were caught in criminal offences in 88 cases and termed it “shameful”. He also asked if the Maharashtra Police could bust narcotics manufacturing units in the State, why could the Karnataka Police not do it.
Published – January 20, 2026 11:03 pm IST
