Prasanna Mishra |
| Blog | Posted By: hindtodaynews on:7/18/2011 1:02:49 AM |
She brought in great happiness and excitement and walked into
our house. My wife named her Chitra. All of us liked the name. She jelled well
with the cows and calves we had. The elderly cow accepted the new arrival with
love and affection. She symbolized the wealth and splendor of the forests of
Koraput region of Orissa where I used to go regularly on work during my tenure
as Managing Director of the Tribal development Cooperative Corporation (TDCC).
She needed a home and I had volunteered to be of help. That is how the cute
deer came to our house and grew in the warm ambience of love and affection.
When I moved to the Planning & Coordination Department, she had grown
bigger and stronger. In a winter morning, my father thought that Chitra should
have a good exposure to the sun in the lawn of our house. My father would keep
a watch over Chitra and simultaneously glance through the morning newspapers.
She was tied to a long rope. After sometime when father had had his reading, he
looked for Chitra. She had disappeared. This threw the entire house into
turmoil. I got a call while in office. By the time I realized the seriousness
of the incident, it was late enough. I remembered Mr Somanath Misra, a senior
officer of the IPS, with whom I had worked years ago in Rourkela. His efficiency
and sincerity had always impressed me. I contacted him over phone and sought
help. “What is the time of occurrence”? He asked me in typical police parlance.
“About two hours back”, I fumbled out. “You know, the deer is fleet footed and
the animal could have gone far by now”; he said. “I know; but you can do
wonders”, I pleaded. “Let me see”, he assured me. After some time, a police officer
with the police dog arrived. The dog sniffed and went up to the nearby BJB
College field and then gave up. Around two thirty in the afternoon, a harassed
police officer returned home in the complex of the Fire Station and asked for
food quickly. “Search of a deer has nearly has completely exhausted me today;
let me have some food quickly and look for the animal”, he told his wife. “Some
people have captured a deer and kept it in a house on the ground floor. They
are making arrangement for a feast at night”, his daughter said. The police
officer forgot his lunch and ran to the house. Chitra was back in our house. That
is what the police can do and that is my expectations of the Orissa police.
About a year back a close friend narrated the harrowing
experience his wife went through in an important locality of Bhubaneswar. She
was walking back home in the morning after buying some vegetables and milk. A
miscreant came from behind; overpowered her and snatched away her gold
necklace. My friend was a senior officer in the Home Department. The couple met
the top police official. The case would have ended as a “case true but no
clue.” On hearing his tale of owe I recollected my experience years ago. One
day, early in the morning, I noticed a young boy on the wall of the house of Mr
Durga Madhav Misra, a former IPS officer. The boy was confidently plucking
flowers from a tree in the compound. His companion was waiting in a cycle.
After a while he perhaps thought that he would also act noble and should not
waste his time on a cycle. He picked up a stone, aimed at the street lamp in
front of the bungalow of Mr Misra and in a moment, the stone smashed the
electric bulb. That was the time I almost reached the spot and shouted at the
boys. They looked at me and the hit-man greeted me with a mouthful of choicest
filthy language with a menacing gesture. I would have been more angry that
morning had I understood the meaning of even half of the slangs he uttered.
They left and I continued my walk. I again met them after ten minutes or so. On
seeing me, the linguist of the two resumed his abuse. I kept my cool and walked
away. I informed the police about this incident. The next morning I had had no
incident while I had my walk. Around ten in the morning, the police Inspector
came to our house and requested me to see about a dozen young boys the police,
in plain clothes, had picked up from the locality in the morning. The boys had
been brought to our house and I recognized the linguist. I left for office
thereafter. In the evening, an elderly person came to our house and pleaded
that his son should be let off. I came to know that his son was studying in a
college. That piece of information was more shocking. The swiftness with which
the police had apprehended the miscreant did impress me. This is my expectation
from the Orissa Police. Sadly, however, things are deteriorating.
Capital city of Orissa has been witnessing cases of
snatching of huge sums of money in broad light in busy city streets; trauma of snatching
of gold ornaments from persons of unsuspecting ladies has been troubling
hundreds of households. Theft of bicycles has become so common that people feel
that police is reluctant to register such cases. Many have personal experience
stealing of mobile phones. The other day my laptop computer was stolen from my
bedroom through the window; the out house of my compound got ransacked by thieves
who made entry by cutting lock after lock and they took away cash of the
occupier in his absence. After this incident was reported to the police, police
came in promptly. I had expected higher
professionalism in handling of the case. I checked up the crime statistics from
the published reports of the National Crime Bureau to see where our state
stands. The latest figures relate to 2009 which states that Orissa is among the
four worst states so far as the value of property stolen is concerned. Our state
stood below Maharastra, Delhi and Kerala. In respect of percentage of recovery
in property offences, our state is among the four worst performing states. We
are below Nagaland, Delhi and Goa. Percentage of recovery in our case is just
eight percent.
Public confidence of the police does not necessarily improve
by seeing swanky police office building or moving police vehicles. The
confidence level is linked with the professionalism of the police.
Professionalism becomes a casualty with political patronage and protection. I
remember the suggestion of Mr Somanath Misra, the then Superintendent of Police
years ago in Rourkela. “In IAS”, he had told me, “You handle activities and
affairs of different sectors. You should advise the various concerned people to
appreciate that the state police should be made focussed on crimes dealt with
in Indian Penal Code. The energy of the state police should not get dissipated
by associating it with activities of other Departments”. Today I realise how
far sighted he was. Citizens today are witnessing freedom of criminals who are
striking at places and time of their choosing and we seem to witness the police
arriving at the spot only after the crimes have been perpetrated. Very often
there is wrangling over jurisdiction. This show must stop. Police must convey a
clear message that it is acting professionally as is the case in a modern
civilized society.
( The writer is a former secretary to Govt. of India )