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 September 1999
During the General Election of 1999, I was posted to Sikkim as an election observer. While I was touring the district to oversee the poll arrangements I was taken to the headquarters of the Sikkim Armed Police (SAP). A postal ballet camp was going to take place and I was to observe it. This gave me an excellent opportunity to meet the officers and the men of the SAP and interact with them and know a little about the elite crack force of the State.
The headquarters of the SAP is located at a very picturesque spot at the outskirts of Gangtok. It commands a magnificent view of the valley below. At the sunlit camp we were met by the Commandant of SAP Mr. Akshay Sachdeva IPS, a very capable officer of the 1991 batch. Hailing from Punjab he has made Sikkim his first home. He is very closely involved in the well being of his men and has tremendous command on theNepalese language, the language of the masses in
Sikkim.
The SAP was formed in 1975 after Sikkim became the twenty second state of India. Its core was formed out of the hundred strong men from the constabulary of the erstwhile ruler of Sikkim the 'Chogyal'. Today the number stands at nine hundred and fifty. After the new state was formed, there was a need for an elite and well trained force armed with weapons for providing security to VIPs, judges, ministers and to the government buildings like the Secretariat, High Court and the other important installations. The civil police in Sikkim carry only lathis and do not carry weapons. Hence the ASP acts as the main strike force to maintain law & order and handle the situations if any, of arson, burning, looting, etc. It also acts as the armoury of the State and provides the arms to all the civil units, if required.
ASP acts as the biggest training institute of the State to train civil police, excise officers, guards and forest guards. It gives training in handling all types of weapons ranging from 303 rifle to AK 47 to LMG. It also trains counter insurgency and counter terrorism personnel. It also gives orientation in Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, Indian Evidence Act to the police personnel to make their education more balanced. It produces some of the smartest black cats in country who are very much in demand in different parts of India. During the election of 1994 the postal ballot papers of the men belonging to SAP were purchased by the politicians at a very high price. (In places like Sikkim which is sparsely populated the cost of a single ballot paper can go up to 100 rupees. At times a candidate loses or wins just by a handful of votes). The reason being the police was allowed to form a union which became highly politicised. The politicians were able to approach the men of ASP and buy their ballot papers for a price. It became a big issue of discipline and men were instigated to come out on the streets. Finally it led to 43 men being dismissed from service which was very unfortunate. The union was also disbanded.
This time, as per the instructions of the Election Commission, extraordinary measures were adopted to take precaution to stall the attempts of the politicians to buy the postal ballots. For several days the Commandant had been blocking the phone calls from politicians and political parties. An orientation camp was organised to make them understand the significance of free and fair exercise of adult franchise. All men were gathered in the open ground and were briefed by their senior officers. I also expressed my feelings of good will for the people of Sikkim. After the briefing session they exercised their franchise with their free will. Today ASP men are one of the most disciplined force and the finest Black Cats in the country and the incidents of 1994 are well forgotten.
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