Arms kept at bay, crime branch cops a grumbling lot

Two months after one of their colleagues gunned down a teenager at a wedding, the crime branch’s men seem to have a little problem on their hands. Rather, it is on their “arms”. Jatin Anand reports.

Two months after one of their colleagues gunned down a teenager at a wedding, the crime branch’s men seem to have a little problem on their hands. Rather, it is on their “arms”.

HT Image

These days, crime branch personnel, including constables and sub-inspectors, are allowed access to their licensed weapons in only two circumstances: either before a raid or when they are certain that they will face “clear and present danger” while gathering intelligence.

“These terms have always been in place,” maintained a senior police officer. “They’ve just been reiterated recently.” The sudden reappearance of these seemingly “basic” instructions has, however, has become a talking point among policemen.

To some, the step, at best, aims to pre-empt incidents such as the shooting of 14-year-old Tarun Chauhan by a drunk constable, Jai Baba, posted with the special operations squad of the crime branch, over a minor argument, in Mukherjee Nagar’s Dhakka Village on March 12.

“Of course there are rotten apples but that doesn’t mean that everyone should go through the same grind,” argued a sub-inspector. “I now have to get my weapon sanctioned every single working day.”

Used to operating in eight- to 10-member teams, other crime branch officers feel the step has added another tier to an already convoluted procedure of executing a timely raid.

On these complaints, the senior officer chose a rather dramatic axiom to defend his decision. “Great power comes with great responsibility,” he said.