NOT SO SAFE: Bikes parked on the Patna Medical College and Hospital campus. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Sept. 5: People-friendly policing is still far from reality in the state capital. A visit to a police station to lodge complaint entails hassle even today. Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) students experienced it after five bikes were stolen from the health cradle in six days.

A few medicos alleged that Pirbhore police station personnel were reluctant to lodge FIRs after their bikes were stolen. Some budding doctors claimed that the cops, instead of co-operating, tried to browbeat them when they went to the police station to lodge complaints. Worse, a medico had to visit the police station five times to get a copy of the formal complaint he had lodged.

Defending themselves, the Pirbhore police station cops said they had no intention to harass the medicos. Asrar Ahmad, the station house officer, said: “It is true that a few medicos had to visit the police station several times to register FIRs. But they had to do so because they had come to the police station without the details like engine and chassis number of the lost vehicles.”

Bikes of five medicos were stolen from the PMCH campus in the past six days in the absence of designated parking lots and security guards. A medico who lost his two-wheeler said: “I had parked my motorbike outside the out patient department and went to my hostel room upstairs around 3am three days ago. When I came down two hours later, my vehicle was nowhere to be seen. I asked people around about my bike but they had no clue as to who had stolen it.”

Cops were of no help either. “When I approached the nearby police station, the police lodged a brief complaint but not a detailed FIR. I had to run to the police station five times to get a copy of the formal complaint,” he said.

A fourth-year MBBS student, who also lost his two-wheeler, had a similar tale to tell. “When I went to the police station, the cops tried to browbeat me instead of co-operating. Forget getting my bike, it was tough even getting an FIR registered,” the young medico said.

The medical college authorities are worried over the spurt in bike theft on the PMCH campus. The principal of the medical college, Dr N.P. Yadav, told The Telegraph: “We have not received any written complaint pertaining to the vehicle thefts, but the issue has been brought to our notice. Some slum-dwellers living along the banks of Ganga might be involved in the cases. We are mulling deployment of security guards for the safety of parked vehicles.”

Admitting the spurt in bike thefts in his jurisdiction, the Pirbhore station house officer said: “We have deployed cops in civil dress at PMCH to nab the people involved in bike-lifting.”