Patna, Dec. 16: The conviction of criminals in the state has gone on fast track but the judiciary is yet to act swiftly against the tainted cops.

Over 600 law enforcers, right from constables to the officers of the Indian Police Service (IPS), are facing criminal charges in Bihar. But none of them has been convicted yet. The cases against them are pending in different courts for the past several years.

In sharp contrast, over 52,000 criminals have been convicted in speedy trial of criminal cases in the past five years.

M.P. Gupta, a senior advocate of Patna High Court, told The Telegraph that 651 policemen were facing criminal charges. Fifty-six of them had been exonerated by the investigating agency, he said.

Gupta said: “The Bihar government had submitted the list of the tainted policemen to the high court in 2006. While disposing of the petition, Chief Justice then J.N. Bhatt had directed the state to take action against the cops at the earliest.”

The government had told the court that chargesheets had been submitted against 595 policemen.

Gupta also said allegations against 140 more policemen were pending in the Vigilance Investigation Bureau. “This is the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

Bihar director-general of police (DGP) Neel Mani said the police headquarters was serious over the complaints of misconduct against the policemen. “We will not tolerate such men in the force. They are a blot on the entire police force,” he said, adding that turpitude and insubordination were the most serious charges against the men in uniform.

The DGP said several policemen charged with misconduct had been dismissed from service. To drive home his point, he said the Bhagalpur senior superintendent of police had been directed to initiate the process of dismissal of a policeman, who fired indiscriminately in an inebriated state in Bhagalpur a few days ago.

He said: “There are instances of policemen indulging in criminal offences being dismissed from service without departmental proceedings.”

Deputy superintendent of police (Muzaffarpur) S.S. Thakur said the police top brass were serious about taking action against tainted cops. Citing an example, he said Muzaffarpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sunil Kumar suspended Sujeet Choudhary and Dinesh Mahto, both posted at Kazi Mohammadpur police station, after a probe found them guilty of snatching Rs 5,000 from a businessman.

Involvement of cops in unlawful activities is still common in Bihar. Upanesh Kumar, a resident of Chhajan village under Kudhani police station, filed a complaint case in the court of the chief judicial magistrate of Muzaffarpur on Tuesday against five policemen for allegedly snatching Rs 28,000 from him on December 6 on the pretext of verifying the papers of his motorcycle.

Babar Khan of Patna Government Railway Police station was dismissed for running a gang of robbers. At least half a dozen criminal cases are pending against him.