Cash And Caste Decide Postings: How 11 Bangalore Cops Became Drug Dealers

On September 13, 2025, Bangalore witnessed one of its most shameful moments in recent policing history. Eleven police officers, including a Police Inspector, Head Constable, Assistant Sub-Inspector and constables from Chamarajpet and JJ Nagar police stations, were suspended for their criminal nexus with drug peddlers. This was not casual negligence-it was organized crime wearing a uniform.

The suspended officers allegedly collected between Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh monthly as protection money from drug peddlers in exchange for allowing them to sell dangerous sedatives. Even more disturbing, investigating officers found that these cops were partying with the accused drug dealers.

The racket came to light when RR Nagar Police arrested six peddlers, including Salman, Nayaz Ullah, Nayaz Khan, and Taher Patel, on August 22. Mobile phone examination revealed direct contact between officers and dealers, with regular audio messages and financial transactions proving their criminal partnership.

The Human Cost

This is not just about money changing hands. The peddlers were selling narcotic tablets to students and young employees, targeting Bangalore's youth-our future. These officers were not just failing in their duty; they were actively facilitating the destruction of young lives for monthly payments.

The drugs involved were sedatives sold without prescriptions, creating addiction among college students and working professionals. When parents send their children to Bangalore for education or employment, they expect police protection, not police participation in drug trafficking.

A Pattern of Corruption

This incident is not isolated. In the same period, Mangaluru police reported arresting 132 drug peddlers in 2025 alone, with drugs worth over Rs 2 crore seized. Yet while honest officers risk their lives catching criminals, others were on their payroll.

India faces a massive drug problem. According to NCRB data for 2022, Karnataka registered 1,229 cases under the NDPS Act for drug trafficking-among the highest in the country. Nationally, drug trafficking cases increased from 26,560 in 2020 to 38,064 in 2022, showing the scale of the challenge.

The Deaddiction Crisis

What makes this betrayal more painful is the desperate need for genuine police support in tackling addiction. Recent studies show that 13% of Bangalore's population consumed alcohol in the past year, with substance abuse among adolescents reaching alarming levels-62.9% of youth aged 13-30 engaged in some form of substance abuse.

In 2021, Bengaluru reported 146 suicides due to drug and alcohol addiction, ranking second in India after Chennai. This is the crisis these corrupt officers were worsening instead of addressing.

Bangalore has numerous deaddiction centres working tirelessly to help victims. The city has 34 Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts (IRCAs) in Karnataka, with several in Bangalore providing crucial treatment services. These centres need police support, not police sabotage.

What Must Be Done Immediately

1. Complete Investigation: The probe must extend beyond these 11 officers. Their bank accounts, properties, and all financial dealings must be scrutinized. Any unexplained wealth should be confiscated.

2. Institutional Reform: Police stations must undergo immediate restructuring. Monthly audits, surprise inspections, and mandatory polygraph tests for officers in drug-sensitive areas are essential.

3. Police-Deaddiction Centre Partnership: Every police station should have mandatory weekly visits to local deaddiction centres. Officers must see the human cost of their potential corruption-the destroyed families, the broken youth, the shattered dreams.

4. Community Surveillance: Citizens must be empowered to report police-criminal nexuses. Anonymous complaint mechanisms with guaranteed protection for whistleblowers are crucial.

5. Fast-Track Justice: These cases must be tried in special courts within six months. Swift, exemplary punishment will send a strong message.

The Political Root of the Problem

The Bangalore drug-police nexus is not an isolated incident-it's a symptom of a deeper malaise that has infected Karnataka's police system. The biggest malaise confronting the police force is the undue political interference in transfers, with elected representatives dictating who should be posted to their constituency. In the past few years even IPS officers have not been spared by politicians. Often officers are also required to pay a monthly 'mamool' to the local MLA and other political bosses and such demands cannot be met from their meagre salaries unless they indulge in largescale corruption.

This toxic system creates a vicious circle where cash, caste and political connections determine postings instead of merit. Incompetent officers get prime postings because they pay MLAs hefty bribes or belong to the "right" caste networks. Honest, competent IPS officers are systematically sidelined, transferred to insignificant positions, or made to wait for postings simply because they refuse to play the corrupt game.

The Karnataka High Court itself observed that "if an officer shells out money to get a plum posting, he would employ every means possible to recover the money he has invested and make every effort to make money for future needs and therefore, this forms the vicious circle of corruption." Caste considerations further poison the system-officers from politically influential castes get lucrative urban postings while merit-based selections are ignored.

The frequent reshuffles in Karnataka police-35 IPS officers transferred in July 2025 alone, with the government even revising transfer orders within days-suggest decisions made not on merit but on political considerations. When officers know their careers depend on pleasing MLAs rather than serving the public, corruption becomes inevitable.

Politicians have turned police postings into a marketplace. Lucrative positions in cities like Bangalore are "sold" to the highest bidder, while competent officers who refuse to pay bribes are sent to remote areas. This system ensures that only corrupt officers get positions where they can interact with drug peddlers, creating the perfect conditions for nexuses like the one we witnessed.

Take the case of IPS officer Alok Kumar, a 1994-batch officer who should have been promoted to Director General of Police. Despite his competence and seniority, his promotion has been withheld due to political machinations. The Karnataka government ordered a fresh departmental inquiry against him over 2019 phone tapping allegations, despite an earlier probe being concluded with government approval. This is a classic example of how honest officers are sidelined when they don't toe the political line, while compliant officers get promoted regardless of merit.

The Broader Challenge

India has established 345 Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts (IRCAs) nationwide, along with 105 Addiction Treatment Facilities (ATFs). The infrastructure exists to fight addiction, but it needs honest law enforcement as partners, not saboteurs.

The government has launched initiatives like Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan reaching over 11 crore people and established a toll-free helpline 14446 for de-addiction counselling. But all these efforts become meaningless when police officers are on drug dealers' payroll because politicians have created a system where integrity is punished and corruption is rewarded.

Time for Accountability

This scandal is a mirror showing us the rot within our system. The question is not whether there are corrupt officers-clearly there are. The question is what we do about it.

Every honest police officer is embarrassed by this incident. Every parent in Bangalore feels betrayed. Every young person struggling with addiction deserves better than police officers who profit from their suffering.

The suspended officers must face the full force of law. But more importantly, we must use this crisis to build a better, more accountable police force-one that protects our youth instead of exploiting them.

The choice is ours: Either we clean up our police force now, or we continue living in a city where those meant to catch criminals are criminals themselves.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views or stance of the organization. The organization assumes no responsibility for the content shared.

The author calls for immediate systemic reforms and genuine accountability in Bangalore's police force. The time for half-measures is over.

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