SPF went to ‘considerable lengths’ to help late sergeant Uvaraja Gopal through health, family issues: Shanmugam

At the time of his death, Uvaraja was the target of three continuing legal and administrative investigations, according to Mr. Shanmugam: &nbsp,

  • The first involved a fugitive investigation into violations of the Protection from Harassment Act and the Penal Code.
  • In July 2023, Uvaraja was also the subject of an internal administrative analysis for rebellion. He had left his house on several times while he was on health left, according to the inner research. The SPF considers this to be a crime. In 2016, when he had attended a friend’s graduation while on health leave and was subjected to an investigation for similar behavior, the man was verbally warned.
  • Uvaraja left his unfinished work unattended during the second inner disciplinary investigation for disobedience of orders and just returned to finish the tasks after being instructed to do but a second time.

SPF SUPPORT

According to Mr. Shanmugam, the officers supported Uvaraja by allowing him to acquire significant breaks during his nine years of service. &nbsp,

Uvaraja took an average of 120 time off each year between 2014 and 2023. When he used up all of his paid left rights in a few years, the applicant applied for no-pay left, which was approved by SPF. &nbsp,

According to Mr. Shanmugam,” This was beyond his ordinary leave entitlement and much more than what a typical police officer would get.” &nbsp,

Mr. Shanmugam even displayed a map detailing Uvaraja’s left over time to members of parliament.

Uvaraja took more than 50 times of skilled leave each year since 2015, and he took over a hundred times worth of no-pay left in each of the following years—2015, 2016, and 2022. &nbsp,

Since 2016, Uvaraja’s leaders have even set up counseling and psychological support for him. &nbsp,

When Uvaraja reported that he was dealing with work stress in January 2023, a para-counsellor was assigned to him. &nbsp,

He received care from a para-counselor the following month, and after from the Police Psychological Services Department’s counselor. Following his demand to get transferred, he began to exhibit signs of instability when reporting to a new product. &nbsp,

After his leaders determined that his performance was below normal, Uvaraja also received instruction and instruction at work, according to Mr. Shanmugam. &nbsp,

This manifested itself in the form of face-to-face interactions, a review of the programs for him, and the establishment of manageable goals. &nbsp,

For instance, he received a variety of function templates and resources to assist him in performing his job duties while working for the Community Policing System from 2018 to 2021.

His former coworkers had even made an effort to assist him. &nbsp,

According to Mr. Shanmugam,” One officer who had partnered with Uvaraja shared that she had encouraged him to begin over when he was given a new posting, despite his prior unhappiness.”

However, she was dissatisfied when he often failed to arrive for work.