Mumbai: In the wake of the Pune rape incident, Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik on Thursday spoke about appointing an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer to oversee security at Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) stations and depots. However, the fact is that the police department stopped sending any of its officers on deputation to the corporation.

The official reason for this decision was that the MSRTC was not cooperating with the senior IPS officers appointed as chief security and vigilance officers at the corporation. Irked over the non-cooperation, the police decided to shift the position reserved for the MSRTC to Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Commissionerate around two-and-a-half years ago.

An officer of the rank of inspector general (IG) was deputed as the chief security and vigilance officer at the MSRTC headquarters at Mumbai Central. The last officer on that post was one MK Bhosale. After his retirement, no one was nominated, and the post was transferred to Pimpri-Chinchwad, sources from the corporation told The Free Press Journal.

The minister may not be aware about past incidents that resulted in the transfer of the post, the sources said. According to them, the state police wing was unhappy over the treatment being meted out to the police officers. The IPS officers deputed to the MSRTC were not offered any facilities nor any special powers. Although they were allowed to conduct inquiries into the working of the corporation, their job was limited to submission of reports to the departmental heads, even in cases where serious dependencies were found, a retired IPS officer said.

The IPS officer is expected to oversee security at MSRTC’s sprawling properties, whose valuation was estimated at Rs 65,000 crore. A few years ago the corporation failed to disburse monthly salary to an IPS officer, which led to a major tiff between the corporation and the state police, an officer said on condition of anonymity.

If the MSRTC genuinely wanted to have a security wing to protect its properties, it should create a district-wise dedicated vigilance wing with officers from the state police department. A proposal was given to the corporation, but that never went anywhere, the retired officer said.