In the Mumbai police, when people talk of uniform corruption, they don’t usually mean the starched trousers and peaked caps. However, as it transpires, even before the probe into the fake stamp syndicate can die down, the force may find itself dragged into a new scandal — the uniform scandal.Initial investigations indicate that some officials in the Police Welfare Centre at Naigaon, central Mumbai have been charging constables Rs 100 each for their attire even though the Maharashtra government pays for it.The government supplies free uniform cloth to the Welfare Centre, which, in turn, stitches them for the personnel. The Centre, run with the help of wives of class IV policemen, receives a grant of Rs 70 per set.The scam was exposed at a ‘‘Police Durbar’’ at Naigaon early this month when Commissioner of Police A.N. Roy along with a team of senior officers was recording grievances. Some policemen pointed out that they were paying Rs 100 for their uniforms even though the government was supposed to be funding them.There are more than 40,000 policemen and several platoons of State Reserve Police Force jawans in the constabulary.‘‘We have launched an inquiry in the uniform case. Details are awaited,’’ said Joint Commissioner of Police (administration) Prem Kishan Jain, who is responsible for providing the uniforms. ‘‘Police get free uniforms and the government is paying for it,’’ clarified Jain.The needle of suspicion currently points to a police inspector, a constable and a woman police constable. At least two of them have managed to remain in their posts at the Welfare Centre for the past 10 years. However, these junior-level staff could be mere fronts or ‘‘collectors’’ in the scam for higher-ups, said sources.
