KOCHI: Even as several cases are piling up before the District Police Complaint Authority, the body is finding it difficult to address the issues owing to overburden of duties. T K Wilson, chairman, District Police Complaint Authority, said that the soaring number of cases coupled with inadequate number of staff have affected the authorities’ working.“The District Police Complaint Authority holds its sitting once in a month. There are seven districts that come under my purview- from Ernakulam to Thiruvananthapuram. We get twenty to thirty cases from each district in a sitting and it has become a Herculean task to resolve all of them. We are overburdened and I am also a member of an advisory body constituted to deal with the Kerala Anti-social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA). With all these on my shoulders, I find it difficult to redress the grievances,” he said.The official said that, since KAAPA has to be given priority, there is a natural tendency to sideline the complaints they get at the sitting of the District Police Complaint Authority.“The procedures involved in hearing a complaint and finding a solution to it are extremely time-consuming. Owing to this, an effective solution to the issues becomes difficult”, he said.The cases against police officers below the rank of DySPs can be lodged before the District Police Complaint Authority and those against the officers belonging to IPS rank can be registered before the State Police Complaint Authority. According to officials, the number of cases registered is high in Kollam.“In a year, 300 cases are registered in Kollam while Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam have about 150 to 200 cases. Alappuzha also follows suit. The lowest number of cases is registered in Idukki,” they said.Antony Kureethara, councillor, Fort Kochi, who is also a complainant, said that it has been a year since he lodged a complaint and so far the issue has not been addressed
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