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Year of the pandemic: Khaki warriors face an invisible enemy
The Covid-19 outbreak brought in unprecedented challenges, but the men and women in uniform put up a brave face often at great risk to themselves, they also lost two of their own in the battle
From fighting off crime to standing on the frontline in the battle against Covid-19, Ludhiana police proved the age old adage true that when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
While nothing could have prepared them to fight the invisible enemy that came in the form of a pandemic, they stood strong even as they lost two of their own -- assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Anil Kumar Kohli and assistant sub-inspector Jaspal Singh – to the virus.
When the Punjab government, and subsequently the Centre, brought in a curfew to break to Covid transmission chain, the khaki warriors played a crucial role in enforcing the restrictions.
Often at great risk to themselves, the men and women in uniform remained on the ground for hours at end without rest or sleep, facing the wrath of residents who were still trying to come to terms with the unprecedented times. Nearly 70 police personnel tested positive for the virus but they returned to their duty, soon after recovery.
The cops also played Good Samaritans as they distributed ration among the needy and made arrangements to send migrants to their native places as the pandemic wreaked havoc to the economy. Rising to the challenges of the pandemic, they also helped cremate the bodies of corona victims as the process required a special protocol.
Other challenges amid the pandemic
Police had to rope in around 2,000 volunteers to help them enforce the lockdown. As people continued to venture out without masks and curfew passes, police had to establish four open jails to detain the violators. The police collected over Rs 5 crore as fine, through 1.1 lakh challans issued since March. The pandemic forced the police to suspend public dealing for three months –from July to October— and residents were asked to lodge their complaints via email.
3 new posts created
The Ludhiana police also witnessed a change in its hierarchy after the government created three new posts of joint commissioner of police and abolished the post of deputy commissioner of police, headquarters. Now, the joint commissioners of police will the senior-most officers after the police commissioner. Deputy commissioners of police will now be third on the hierarchy chart. Also, with the induction of the three new officers, the city now has 44 gazetted officers – which include the police commissioner, five DCPs, 10 ADCPs, 24 ACPs and one DSP (anti narcotics). The city has 28 police stations and one women police station to deal with matrimonial disputes.
A crime that shook the city
Among the most gut-wrenching crimes that the city witnessed was the murder of four members of a family in Mayur Vihar in the last week of November. Builder and realtor Rajiv Sunda, 60, hacked to death four members of his family –wife Sunita Sunda, 58, son Ashish Sunda, 35, daughter-in-law Garima Sunda, 32, and grandson Suchet, 12, with an axe and knife on the morning of November 24. After the gruesome murders, he fled in his Maruti Suzuki Swift car before setting it ablaze and ending his life by jumping before a running train. A suicide note recovered from his house revealed that he had taken the extreme step as he was fed up of his daughter-in-law’s kin, who, he alleged, had been threatening to implicate him in a fake dowry case. He had also mentioned that the accused had not returned the money they had borrowed from him.
Cops pulled out of Bains’ security detail
Lok Insaaf Party head and Atam Nagar MLA Simarjit Singh Bains found himself in a soup in April this year after he made a controversial statement against the police in response to an incident wherein a Nihang Sikh chopped off the hand of a cop on duty. Hurt and demotivated by his statements, four cops in his security detail submitted in writing to the police department that they did not want to serve him anymore as Bains had “insulted” the police department. Later, Bains complained to the Union minister of minority affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and vice-chairman of the National Commission for minorities, Manjit Singh Rai about the withdrawal of his security. He alleged that police commissioner Rakesh Agrawal, in an interview after the incident, had tried to malign his image at the behest of the Congress government.
Lows
Broad daylight robbery at IIFL
A gang of five armed robbers made off with at least 30kg of gold ornaments, worth more than Rs 10 crore, from India Infoline Finance Limited’s (IIFL) gold loan branch on Gill Road on February 17. Four of them had entered the branch and executed the crime in 25 minutes flat, while the fifth robber, who was waiting for them in a car, drove them off. The crime spot is located opposite the office of Punjab Police’s Crime Investigation Agency Staff-3 unit. Before the Ludhiana police could get any clue about the robbers, the Organised Crime Control Unit (OCCU) solved the case and arrested the accused.
Finance firm employee’s custodial death
The custodial death of Deepak Shukla, a finance company employee, on February 27 had raised questions about the working of the police. Shukla’s kin had alleged that he was tortured in custody. They were forced to approach the court as the police appeared to be shielding the errant cops by putting off the registration of the case. The case was finally registered on August 15 after court orders. Three cops
–the then station house officer of Division Number 5 police station, sub-inspector Richa Rani, assistant sub-inspector Charanjit Singh and assistant sub-inspector Jaskaran Singh were booked under Sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code and the Contempt of Court Act.
Flushing hooch into Sutlej River
The Ludhiana police were caught on the wrong side of the law as a few personnel were pictured disposing off hooch, which had been confiscated in raids, in the Sutlej River. The police had flushed nearly 8.64 lakh litres of lahan (hooch) in river and polluted the water body. The same practice continued even after the hooch tragedy in Amritsar, Batala and Tarn Taran which claimed over 100 lives.
No trace of domestic help who executed robbery
Police failed to trace a Nepalese domestic help, who along with his two accomplices, had robbed the house of industrialist Sandeep Ghai after holding captive the latter’s elderly parents. The crime took place in the posh Gurdev Nagar locality on October 7. The accused had injured an 11-year-old domestic help and sedated the security guard of the house while carrying out the crime. At the time of the incident, Ghai, along with his wife and children, had gone for dinner to their relatives’ house in Model Town.
Cops turn criminals
While many laid down their lives in the line of duty, there were a few who brought embarrassment to the force by indulging in illegal activities. Division Number 2 station house officer, Amandeep Singh Gill, 39, was arrested by the special task force of Ludhiana police, after he and his aide Ajay Kumar were found in possession of 10.3-gm heroin on February 18. The SHO had recovered the contraband from five suspects, but instead of lodging an FIR against them, he had set them free for bribe.
An assistant sub-inspector (ASI), Sukhpal Singh of Jamalpur police station had shot at his friend’s wife with his service weapon at their residence over a monetary dispute on January 14. At the time of the incident, the two teen daughters of the victim were in the adjoining room.
Assistant sub inspector (ASI) Dharminder of Daba police station, along with a woman and a cable operator, had honey trapped a realtor and demanded Rs 50 lakh after claiming that they had a lewd video of him with the woman. The ASI threatened the realtor that he would implicate him in a rape case on the basis of the video. The Daba police had arrested all the accused on June 29.
A head constable, Surinder Kumar, deputed at Kanganwal police post, had changed an entire FIR for a bribe of Rs 50,000 to benefit drug peddlers arrested with ‘Ganja’ (cannabis). He was booked on July 18. Five police personnel, including four ASIs and a constable, who were facing corruption charges, were dismissed from service on November 23.
Highs
Drive against begging
In a drive against begging, that started in February, police had identified 1,170 beggars at 19 busy locations of the city and started initiatives to rehabilitate them. But the Covid-induced lockdown threw the drive off-track. But the police resumed the drive in November and within a month brought down the number to 435 by rehabilitating them. Police had released a Whatsapp number where residents could contact the police to share details about the location of beggars.
Cache of drugs recovered
The Ludhiana police recovered intoxicant syrups, tablets and capsules worth Rs 10 crore from the basement of a house in Jaipur of Rajasthan in September and October, and disrupted a drug supply chain with the arrest of five accused. Police had claimed to have recovered 13,000 capsules, 1, 76, 560 syrup bottles, 10.29 lakh tablets and 14,400 injections from their possession.
Impounded vehicles returned to owners
Ludhiana police had also handed over 239 impounded vehicles, 213 mobile phones and Rs 6.74 cash to its owners on superdari (interim custody) on October 30. The total worth of these properties comes to around Rs 4 crore. The step was taken as the police ran out of space to store these at the police stations. The police had earned over Rs 1 crore by auctioning 1, 705 unclaimed vehicles.
Robbery at Muthoot Finance foiled
Police, with the help of the public, foiled a robbery at Muthoot Finance company’s Dugri Road branch on October 16. Three of the robbers had fled empty-handed after opening fire, injuring four employees and an onlooker. The robbers had filled gold worth Rs 15 crore in bags and some cash but before they could escape, the employees overpowered them. Police managed to identify all six accused, but could arrest only three of them.
Police recover kidnapped child within hours
Police rescued the two-year-old son of a city-based hotelier, hours after the toddler was kidnapped by the family’s driver on December 2. The accused had demanded Rs 4 crore to release the child. The driver, identified as Harjinderpal Singh, and his accomplices sarpanch Lal Singh, former sarpanch Rachhpal Singh, Sukhdev Singh alias Sukha, Lal Singh of Kot Isse Khan and his wife Mandeep Kaur, were nabbed.
