Taking serious note of the incident in which two policemen on night patrolling were assaulted by unknown people, Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order) Alok Kumar has directed Kalaburagi Police Commissioner Y.S. Ravikumar to ensure that one of the policemen on night patrol carries a self-loading rifle (SLR).
He also took serious exception and expressed discontent over not being informed of the incident.
“Two policemen without any weapon made an attempt to apprehend criminals at night and were injured when the latter attacked them. You did not even inform me of it at the meeting. We would have recognised the heroic action of the policemen by giving them an appreciation certificate. From now on, at least one person in the night patrolling team must carry an SLR. Conduct firing training and practice sessions for the personnel and arm the fit with SLRs. We cannot afford to be assaulted by criminals,” Mr. Kumar said at a press conference at a guesthouse on the District Armed Reserve Grounds here on Tuesday.
Responding to a series of questions posed by journalists over the poor maintenance of traffic and unregulated autorickshaws worsening the problem, he sought an explanation from the officers concerned and directed them to fix these issues within a month.
“I served in Kalaburagi for many years and I know how autorickshaws create traffic woes at major junctions, including the Timmapur Circle and Ram Mandir Circle. I remember how I was chasing them with a baton to clear traffic at traffic junctions and on some roads. You must take stringent action against violators and ensure free traffic movement. If you allow autorickshaws to park at major traffic circles, the very purpose of traffic signals will be defeated. Fix it in a month. If somebody sends me a video of the problem persisting, I will hold traffic inspectors responsible and take action. Fix the problem in a month,” Mr. Kumar told the officers.
On firearm licence being given to citizens, Mr. Kumar stressed the need for reducing the number of such licence issued in the district.
“As per a report submitted by the local police, 200 people have firearm licence. I feel that we need to review each case individually and decide afresh whether a licence holder still needs his firearm. A man who was in need of having a firearm at a particular period in the past may no longer need it because in the change of his business or the absence of a threat to his life and property. We must constitute a committee and review each licence to decide whether or not a man needs a firearm now,” Mr. Kumar said.
Expressing discontent over irregular police-public meetings, Mr. Kumar said that regular interaction with people will help a lot in delivering people-friendly policing.
“We used to have regular meetings with the public where we tried to know their problems. Such meetings helped us a lot in understanding their problems and accordingly, delivering our services. Unfortunately, such meetings are not being held these days. I ask Kalaburagi Police to conduct public meetings on a regular basis. We are here not to simply get salaries and enjoy power and comforts thereof. We are here to serve people. We are here to protect the lives and property of people. People-friendly policing is our motto. All officers, including seniors, must ensure that they conduct public meetings on a regular basis except for such circumstances when they are in more pressing engagements,” Mr. Kumar said.
Inspector-General of Police (North Eastern Range) Manish Karbikar, Mr. Ravikumar, Superintendents of Police Isha Pant (Kalaburagi), Kishore Babu (Bidar) and Vedamurthy (Yadgir), Deputy Commissioner of Police Adduru Srinivasulu and other senior officers were present.
