Safe Heaven: A couple at Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park in Patna. Telegraph picture

Patna, Jan. 16: The lovebirds displeased over khaki intruders spoiling their wish to get lost in each other’s arms at Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park have found support from an unexpected quarter — the park authorities. The officials want police to alert them beforehand on raids against alleged vulgarity in the zoo.

Irked over the cops’ “moral policing” at the park last Thursday, its officials have sent a letter to the Patna police seeking information in advance on raids on its premises. With private guards on duty, the park authorities termed the frequent intrusion of cops in the park, popularly called Patna zoo, unnecessary.

Abhay Kumar, the director of Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, said sudden police raids were fine till they were conducted to nail criminals or Maoists. But dropping in to discipline couples was unacceptable to him.

“The police can always conduct raids anywhere they want to and they don’t need to take permission for the same as per the laws of the Code of Criminal Procedure. But a raid or an inspection just to chastise the couples is something unnecessary. We have guards on the zoo premises. Their job is to check whatever is going on inside the park. They are on continuous patrol. If the police do the same, it is just duplicity of work. This should not happen. We have written a letter to the Patna senior superintendent of police in this connection,” Kumar said.

“If a criminal or a terrorist enters the zoo and the police raid the place, it is just fine. But if the police want to conduct a raid without any law and order problem, they should intimate us,” Kumar said.

Last Thursday, DSP (headquarters)-II Smita Suman entered the zoo with women constables and thoroughly scanned it. The officer and the constables caught hold of couples and reprimanded them. Onlookers said some of them were made to hold their ears and promise that they would not get cosy in the zoo again.

A few visitors to the zoo said the police raid left them confused.

Shreeram Kumar, an IT student based in Patna, said: “I don’t understand their (cops) problem. Is there anything wrong in sitting quietly and talking privately? Is holding hands of your fiancé wrong?”

He added, “A month back I saw a senior police officer coming to the Children’s Park near Gandhi Maidan and chasing couples. It seems the policemen don’t have anything better to do. They must be concerned with criminal incidents rather than chasing couples away.”

Anjali Sinha, who went to the zoo last Thursday when the raid was on, said: “All of a sudden, I saw some youngsters running away. I thought some crime must have occurred inside the zoo and they were chasing some criminals. But when I learnt they were being chased away by the police, I was shocked.”

Rajiv Mishra, a teacher in Ahmedabad and in town on a holiday, was surprised to see the cops chasing couples away from the zoo. “I have not seen this ever in a conservative state like Gujarat,” he said.

The police, however, found nothing wrong in the raid on the zoo. “The police were doing their job. A lot of people come to visit the zoo. Couples sitting behind the bushes indulge in private acts in public. It is not at all good,” an officer said.

Senior officers refused to comment on the issue.