An officer takes the screening test for the appointment of station house officers in Bhagalpur on Wednesday. Picture by Amit Kumar

The Bhagalpur Police Lines resembled an examination centre on Wednesday morning as inspectors and sub-inspectors queued up for a screening test to secure posts of station house officers (SHOs).

Carrying pens and pencils, the men in uniform walked into the auditorium for the various rounds being conducted by Bhagalpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajesh Kumar.

The four-hour-long exam began at 6am.

He said: “Participants were asked about their interests, public interaction, general aptitude, smartness, fitness and other abilities. Computer literacy was also an important criterion in the screening test.” According to Rajesh, 14 cops were placed in grade A.

The examinees were asked to submit their resumes and write about their five major achievements since joining the Bihar police.

The written tests were followed by interviews inside the tents.

Rajesh said that of the 14 A-grade cops, eight were appointed as SHOs in Kotwali, Antichak, NTPC, Tilka Manjhi, Bath, University, Lodipur and Madhusudanpur police stations.

“Since the posts of SHOs at these places were lying vacant, we posted the successful candidates in these police stations. We have also prepared records of personality assessment of the officials for better policing,” Rajesh said.

Many elderly cops on the verge of retirement, too, took the exam. On aged cops in the fray, Rajesh said: “Keeping their approaching retirement in mind, many refused to take up the responsibility of being a SHO.”

On what motivated Rajesh to initiate such a screening test, the SSP said: “On June 10, I suspended five SHOs, of Kotwali, Tilka Manjhi, Antichak, NTPC and Madhusudanpur, for negligence towards disposing pending cases.”

“The district has 40 police stations and over 1,600 cases are pending. It was a challenge before me.

“I started investigations and found that the SHOs were responsible for the pending cases. I also received complaints against some officers regarding their service. So, I decided to screen officials so that only competent people are assigned the responsibilities.”

SSP Rajesh has conducted similar screening tests for SHOs during his posting at Muzaffarpur too.

Newly appointed Kotwali police station house officer, Amar Nath Tiwary, said: “It is a good process to promote able and efficient police officers. This practice should be adopted throughout the state for better policing.”

Harun Musthak, who has been appointed as SHO of Antichak police station, said: “The SSP has taken the right decision for selecting appropriate officers only on the basis of merit.”