IG to cops: Curb crime or face music

AN INCREASE of about five hundred percent in cases of murder in the district has not only rattled senior police officers here but also the top police brass in the State capital. Besides murders there has been a general rise in the crime rate in the district in comparison to other districts in the zone where crime percentage is reported to have decreased by about 15 percent, said police sources.

AN INCREASE of about five hundred percent in cases of murder in the district has not only rattled senior police officers here but also the top police brass in the State capital.

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Besides murders there has been a general rise in the crime rate in the district in comparison to other districts in the zone where crime percentage is reported to have decreased by about 15 percent, said police sources.

Shaken by this disturbing trend IG Zone Suvrat Tripathi is reported to have granted 15 days' time to the district police to bring down the appalling crime rate or face the music.

Till now the IG Allahabad zone had been addressing crime meetings occasionally but in this month alone the top zonal police officer is reported to have convened two crime meetings. The second meeting was convened on Monday evening.

Non-compliance of the directives of senior officers in respect of crime control is reported to have prompted the IG to take a second meeting in just one month , said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity.

The first crime meeting was held to review last month's crime situation after expression of unhappiness by senior officers in Lucknow. Instructions were issued to bring down the rate of crime under various heads including murder but there had been no compliance of the instructions, said the officer. Most of the station officers and the circle officers do not appear serious at all to perform their duty in the right direction.

This laid back attitude and the desire to earn a fast buck by some cops has brought disrepute to the entire department, he pointed out.

Small instances, if not checked timely, are translated into bigger incidents. This happens when ulterior motive is involved.

And this is exactly happening in this district, he said.

The twin murders in Tharwai late Sunday evening would not have taken place in case police had acted promptly on October 18 when a village urchin misbehaved with some women during the Dussehra festival, said a police officer.

The area cops had even reportedly failed to note it down in the GD. This attitude of the police emboldened the attackers.

Only the other day six people were injured in a clash in Amilia village under Meja police station.

The situation would not have turned ugly in case cops had acted promptly in this case. The other day cops manning the Phaphamau police outpost were forced to return the money they had taken from a cracker shop owner due to intervention of two corporator candidates.

A fire had destroyed the cracker shop opened by one Puranchandra.

Though the fire was controlled but cops in their usual style reached the spot and took the shopowner to the police station where they forced him to cough up money or get booked for the crime of running unauthorised shop. The shop owner had relented by dancing to the tune of the cops.

Meanwhile, the news reached two corporator candidates who created a din at the police station. Cops were ultimately not only forced to release the shop owner but had to return the money which they had taken from him.

These instances are just a few grim reminders of how cops in the district were behaving and causing unrest in society, said the officer.