It is the nursery of Goa’s law and order guardians yet Valpoi based Goa's Police Training School is turning out to be a bit of a joke as trainees party out, fake illness and scoot scared in the face of danger, The Goan jumps over its fence to find out how
On September 15, three Goa Police recruit trainees wereinjured in a blast in their camp in Manipur. There were panic stricken callsfrom the recruits to their families as the dictum – courage under fire – took abeating. Strange that the guardians of the law would get scared under attack.The clue to the panic attack lies 48 kilometers from Panjim.
Sprawling across a 35 acre campus on the outskirts ofValpoi, Goa’s lone Police Training School is a poor cousin to its armycounterpart in Bambolim or Naval counterpart in Verem. The school closes downin monsoons, when the recruits could have normally toughened up. But at Valpoi,the recruits take it easy. No wonder then that the future policemen and womenchickened out in the face of bomb blasts in a Border Security Force camp. But PTSValpoi’s tales are weirder than civil society can comprehend. In fact it is atale out of the Hollywood blockbuster Police Academy, a spoof on policetraining.
On the backdrop of cases against cops in various crimes anddisciplinary action by the department that raises serious concerns over thecharacter of cops in Goa, the Police Training Center literally trains cops onhow to accept bribes and hone their skills. Passed out cops who have availedtraining from PTS told The Goan, “It is all fun, like hostel life except withtraining and exercise. You get everything you wish”. The former recruit, whohad undergone training for more than six months at PTS Valpoi, was amongst awide cross-section of policemen who passed out of the school. He confirmed thatlife was good inside the centre.
Most of the trainees could not bear harsh punishment anddigest general food in the PTS. “But then you could earn a ‘happy punishment’(a punishment that is not torture) of your choice or no punishment and evengood food from outside after bribing the master (instructor In-charge ofbatch)”, another cop confirmed. The food which is provided is totallyunhygienic so some of them get food from outside, he claimed.
PTS rules mandate that cops undergoing training should havebalanced diet and physical exercise. Liquor is totally banned. But then it iseasy to beat the system in a place where trainers hang around for long tenurewithout the mandatory transfers. While some of the PTS staff have beentransferred recently, but quite a few of them stick around due to politicalpatronage. “Most of the officials in the PTS are on same place with theinfluence of present MLA and ex Minister Vishwajeet Rane” a cop informed.Former recruits talk of one such ‘Master’ called Walter. “One day we werecaught by Walter while bringing outside food into the camp. He did not punishus but told us that we should not do this. He also told us to keep him in theloop and give 10 rupees extra on each item ordered”, the cop informed. Theformer recruit confirms that Walter “used to get us everything if we payincluding beer”. “I will not say everybody is corrupt, but most of them behavelike this” he said.
Former trainee cops also name Filip, who supplies all typesof shoes, uniform, caps, and lanyards etc to the trainee. The recruits needthree types of shoes, where the department would charge them Rs. 1100, whileFilip would charge only Rs 500 inside PTS. Every police personnel who istraining at PTS has to buy a life insurance policy from an agent of the instructorin-charge. Those who refuse face trouble.
“If you are good to your master (Instructor in-charge) byway of bribing him you are left alone, those who don’t do that face harshpunishment”, a cop informed. Though nobody at PTS Valpoi has permission to moveout in night, here you can go out anytime in night and come back before morningPT. “You can even go home and take a holiday after paying 200 rupees, which isvery unofficial and prohibited” cops said.
Surprisingly, while the SP in charge is Brahm Singh, an IPSshunted here by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, was oblivious of the fact thatthis was a ‘punishment’ posting. Nelson Albuquerque, the concerned PI, wasaware of this. But the man who calls the shots is PSI Shyam Dhuri who has beenin-charge of PTS for almost a decade now. Interestingly, the nursery of law andorder in the state, which should have been exposed to the best of policebrains, is actually a punishment posting for the state’s ambitious policeofficials. Brahm Singh may have not known this but for other current SPsincluding Vishram Borkar and Shekhar Prabhudessai, the scars, of falling out offavour of the Home Minister and being sent to this punishment posting, stillremain. Nobody however wants to recollect those experiences.
The Goan talked to a cross-section of former recruits allserving cops who confirmed that PTS is more of a holiday with no commitmentthan serious exposure to a tough life as an upright cop. For the trainee thecourse in conning seniors, fleecing the hapless and life of luxury begins atthe PTS.
