Calcutta, March 14 :    Calcutta, March 14:  Case I: It's 6.30 pm, in front of G.K. Sports. Two young girls, one in jeans and the other in a smart salwar-suit, are strolling towards Chowringhee. Suddenly, a nattily-dressed man in his mid-thirties, while brushing past them, mouths obscenities, and makes a grab at one of them. The girls, instead of panicking, block the man's path. Before he can realise what's going on, two well-built young men in tracksuits, pin him down. End of operation Road Romeo-I. The girls are two of the 28 lady constables operating as deadly decoys to clear south Calcutta of the eve-teasing menace. The men are part of a crack team, often wielding tennis racquets instead of lathis, to bring the offenders to book. And it's working. 'In January 1999, 272 cases of eve-teasing had been reported in south Calcutta. In January-February this year, only 48 offenders have been brought to book,' said Ranjit Pachnanda, deputy commissioner, south. The drive has netted middle-level businessmen, corporate executives, school and college boys, shop-owners and even army personnel. The areas marked for the crackdown are - Victoria Memorial Hall, the Park Street-Chowringhee crossing, the Shakespeare Sarani-Chowringhee crossing, the Gariahat crossing, the Dhakuria Lakes, the stretch in front of Ice Skating Rink, Kalighat, Northern Park, Bhowanipore, and several girls' schools and colleges. At these 'sensitive spots' in south Calcutta, the plainclothesmen are deployed in squads of five, with one or two women constables to lure the leer brigade. 'They either wear jeans, salwar-suits or attractive sarees. Their male colleagues are never far behind, posing as college-goers in sporting gear,' explained Pachnanda. Case II: 2.30 pm, in front of Mocambo. A man in his 30s, in a well-cut suit, is walking down Mirza Ghalib Street. Two young girls are coming from the opposite direction. Just as they are about to pass by, the man steps right into their path, and tries to kiss one of them. But he's caught in the act by the DC, South, himself. The man is hauled in, but is soon let off, on a bail of Rs 20, as the girls choose not to press charges. This, feel the police, is a root cause of eve-teasing being rampant in parts of Calcutta. 'The law, Section 509 of the IPC, clearly states that eve-teasing is a cognizable offence punishable with simple imprisonment for up to a year and/or a fine. But if the victims do not lodge an FIR, the miscreants get away with petty cases under the Calcutta Police Act, which is just not deterrent enough,' observes Pachnanda. The answer, feels the police top-brass, lies in the two Es - 'enforcement and education'. The enforcement plan, under the guidance of city police commissioner Dinesh Vajpai, is in full swing with 'unsuspecting offenders walking into traps set up at critical corners'. On the education front, police teams are doing the rounds of girls' schools and colleges, speaking to students, teachers, and principals, 'to spread awareness' about the menace. 'A meeting of headmistresses and principals of girls' schools and colleges was held at the Lake police station, where we put forth our suggestions,' said Bandana Das Gupta, headmistress, Kamala Girls' School. Hilda Peacock, principal of La Martiniere for Girls, feels the police have been 'really helpful' in curbing the menace. But a 'Delhi-style' eve-teasing is fast gaining ground in the city. 'Earlier, they used to just pass remarks or whistle. These days, they are much more brutal, often chasing girls in cars,' says Das Gupta. CBI joint-director U.N. Biswas agrees that there is actually a 'threat of rape' in today's eve-teasing, and warns that there is no 'instant coffee solution' to this social ill. 'Mere punitive action is not the remedy. Girls need to be trained to tackle a given situation, and the police must flash the identities of the culprits through the media,' explains the criminology expert.