LUCKNOW: If Uttar Pradesh has plunged into unprecedented lawlessness in the last two years, an overriding reason – based on empirical evidence as well as home department sources – is the state police’s refusal to book cases against criminals. And where cases are filed, these aren’t investigated. These two factors make for ideal condition for lawlessness to thrive, which is what is being witnessed in UP under Samajwadi Party’s rule.

The reason behind police slackness is the politicization of the police force under SP rule, a party which owes its power to a large OBC support base, around 35% of UP’s population. Then, among the OBCs, it’s the Yadavs who claim political leadership as one of the single largest caste groups among the OBCs at 9.6%. In its bid to appease its vote-base, the SP leadership has followed the politics of largesse and patronage, and rewarded its Yadav clansmen with key posts in UP’s police machinery.

According to UP home department sources, in major districts of UP, particularly those under the influence of the ruling Yadav family, nearly 60% police stations are headed by Yadav officers. In Badaun, where two minor girls were raped and hanged, 16 out of 22 police stations are headed by Yadav officers. Badaun is represented by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav ’s cousin Dharmendra Yadav in the Lok Sabha. Also, all five men accused of rape and murder of the two teenagers are Yadavs

As a matter of fact, the demographic profile of UP’s 1,527 police stations and outposts has changed in the past two years, since the SP came to power. In Kanpur, for instance, Yadavs head as many as 25 police stations out of 36. In Lucknow, more than 50% station officers are Yadavs.

In Kannauj, represented by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter-in-law Dimple, there are five Yadav station officers at nine police stations. Similarly, Farrukhabad has seven Yadav SOs in 14 police stations and Etawah has nine Yadav SOs in 20 police stations.

“Most district police chiefs post a Yadav officer in key positions to earn brownie points from the ‘first family’ and there is an unwritten decree that 50% of inspectors and SHOs have to be Yadavs,” said a former IPS officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Also, many IPS officers close to the Yadav family have been brought to UP from outside the state. After Akhilesh became CM, he brought back officers like Yashaswi Yadav and Pradip Yadav from other state cadres.

While it would constitute a leap of faith to establish a direct correlation between posting of Yadav cops and rise in crime, it stands to reason that when caste, and not merit, is behind their appointment, then it would reduce the premium on policing. If the accused are of the same caste as law enforcers, and the law enforcers have got their jobs because of their caste, then there is a good chance that the investigations could be influenced.

Yashaswi of the Maharashtra cadre became Kanpur police chief. He was removed after the Allahabad high court intervened in a doctors’ strike triggered allegedly by the officer’s high-handedness. When Pradip Yadav was brought in from Punjab, a sting operation by a TV channel showed him drunk inside a hotel. He was removed during elections on EC orders.

During SP’s rule between 2004-07, the UP government had recruited 21,000 constables but the entire recruitment was riddled with scam, irregularities and favouritism.

The BSP government that followed cancelled the appointments and took the matter up to the Supreme Court . However, when SP returned to power in March 2012, it withdrew the government SLP from the apex court giving relief to tainted recruits and nearly 30 IPS and PPS officers involved in the recruitment process.

Akhilesh government also over-turned a decision by the Mayawati government to not allow postings in home districts for policemen. In the last two years, many have got “home” postings. It has take enormous public outcry for Akhilesh to back track on his own decision to again disallow home postings to cops.

This was after the Badaun incident, where two Yadav policemen dismissed by the state government for “connivance” with the accused were from adjoining Bareilly and Etah districts. And all five alleged rapists and killers are Yadavs.