Patna police need protection.
Three incidents of vicious attacks on patrolling cops during late evening hours in June has brought forth concerns about the protection of the men in uniform.
The incidents have also exposed the lack of proper coordination and contact between the patrolling parties stationed at different areas.
On Saturday last week, three men speeding on a motorcycle rammed into Mumtaz Ahmed, an assistant sub-inspector rank officer, when he tried to stop them for a check near Bhikhari Thakur Pul under the jurisdiction of Jakkanpur police station area. The incident took place around 11.30pm and resulted in Ahmed suffering injuries.
"He had tried to stop the bike as it had three people. The driver increased the bike's speed after spotting the cop and hit him. When he tried to chase them, they almost dragged him, resulting in the accident. The trio fled soon after," an officer at the Jakkanpur police station said.
The same evening sub-inspector Bajrangi Paswan went through a similar ordeal.
Around 11pm, Paswan spotted three people on a bike that was speeding along the McDonald's roundabout in Kadamkuan. With Paswan trying to stop them, the men decided to hit him and speed away, inflicting moderate injuries on the officer.
On June 9, a police constable was shot at by unknown men on a bike at JP roundabout under the jurisdiction of Gandhi Maidan police station.
The constable, identified as Sharma Paswan, was shot from close range but the bullet grazed his head.
"It is definitely a cause of concern. The roads at night are empty and it becomes difficult for the police to nab the offenders. Most of them drive under the influence of liquor. So the police cannot stop patrolling at night. The spate of criminal incidents, particularly thefts and burglaries, have resulted in the police initiating stringent night patrolling and it would continue," a police officer said.
If one looks at figures, there were 774 incidents of thefts from January to May this year. The figure last year during the same time was 724. The incidents of burglaries have also increased from 251 to 271 during the same time.
When contacted, Patna superintendent of police (SP) (central) Chandan Khuswaha said they had derived a plan to tackle these incidents.
"The police are stressing on night patrolling since almost a month now. The checking usually starts around 8pm and goes until 2am to 3am. However, the incidents of attacks on the cops have also come to light. Night patrolling usually takes place on identified strategic locations of the state capital. The police have started to provide trolley barriers in these places now. These barriers are positioned in such a way that no vehicle, be it a bike or a car, can just run over or speed away. They have to stop under any circumstances or else, they would get hurt," the SP said.
"More trolley barriers are coming and they would be placed in all the locations soon, which would be used at night time primarily. Moreover, the police have asked the cops on streets to be alert and be in touch with the neighbouring patrol parties through wireless. Last week, a bike with three men rammed into the vehicle of assistant SP (law and order) at the Dakbungalow roundabout and sped away. The incident had taken place around 2am but then the police team chased them for almost 6km and nabbed them," the SP explained.
