PUNE: Two days after Khadki resident Suresh Vitthal Pingle (42) succumbed to burn injuries suffered after he set himself ablaze on the premises of the Pune police commissioner’s office, a woman constable was suspended.
Deputy commissioner of police (special branch) Mitesh Ghatte issued the suspension order on Friday night after an inquiry established that there was gross negligence on her part in dealing with the deceased’s character verification plea.
The constable, who is attached to the Khadki police station, was given the task of conducting character verification of applicants between July 1 and 22. In his order, Ghatte stated, “The constable had told Pingle that there were criminal cases registered against him and delayed conducting his verification, even though there were no cases registered against him.”
According to Ghatte, “Pingle had made numerous rounds of the police station and requested the constable to get his verification process expedited, but she did not consider his plea and said his application cannot be considered because of the criminal cases registered against him.”
The order read, “The constable later told Pingle that he had mentioned the wrong address in his application and instructed him to correct it and gave vague and misleading responses. Pingle started suffering from stress after his office asked him not to report for duty over the delay in submitting the character verification report.”
Pingle had set himself ablaze on Wednesday and succumbed to 75% burn injuries at a private hospital on Thursday. His last rites were performed on Friday.
