Amaravati: Udaya Lakshmi assumes office as PCA member

Amaravati: B Udaya Lakshmi, IAS, who retired as principal secretary, has been appointed as member of AP State Police Complaints Authority (APPCA).

Udaya Lakshmi who assumed office on Monday as a member of the Authority, called on Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Speaking on the occasion, Udaya Lakshmi said that the APPCA was established by the state government as per the orders of the Supreme Court for the first time.

She said until now if there is a serious crime like lockup death, crime against women and children like kidnap of minor girl, rape of a woman due to inaction of police or illegal detention, violation of law by police, the people have to approach High Court.

But now after establishment of PCA, the aggrieved persons can directly approach it and lodge a complaint. The PCA will play a role of a judge on wheels and is accessible to any victim of a serious crime involving police, she said.

The former bureaucrat said PCA is a specialised body to bring transparency and accountability of police officers towards people.

Similarly, she said, the police while taking a person into custody in a crime, have to inform jurisdictional police station as per Criminal Procedure Code.

But sometimes they do not inform local police and bring that suspected person, illegally detain him/her for many days and they may be tortured. In such cases, the person concerned may lodge a complaint with PCA and it will act immediately by sending notices to the police officer involved, she added.