You are the new commissioner of police for the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. Before this you have handled other responsibilities in the police force including stints as district superintendent of police. How is this job different from those?
Basic policing remains the same. But after the commissionerate system evolved, expectations of people in urban areas have gone up. While in Bhubaneswar, maintenance of law and order is a big problem, organised crime is a major concern in Cuttack. We have to address these issues. The expectations of people have gone up because the masses are literate. Here the problems and issues are different. You need to address these issues differently, quickly and accurately. We have evolved some good police practices. These need to be replicated in other police establishments.
But the police have failed to rise to the expectation of people…
The police are a service organisation. People’s expectations from the police have gone up. They want immediate redress of their problems. People need 24X7 service from the police. But we have manpower only for one shift. My belief is that anyone who approaches the police is in distress. We should rise to the occasion and provide them service. But the huge resource gap has turned to be a major hindrance. Nearly 60 per cent posts at the sub-inspector level are vacant under the commissionerate police. The people at large, political leadership and the government should devise ways on how to put in place a 24X7 policing system to address the problems of the people. We are now managing the job without adequate manpower.
After you assumed charge, the commissionerate police arrested the Dhal Samant brothers and the case has been getting a lot of publicity. The police have been coming out with new facts in the case almost every day. But the brothers have a lot of clout in the society. Given that do you think the police would be able to crack the case or will the whole thing turn out to be a just one big stunt?
I will ensure the investigation reaches its logical end. In the course of investigation, we have come to know that they were into extortion, tender-fixing and other big crimes. The way our investigation is going on, I can assure you that we will take it to its logical end. I will request the public to come up and lodge their complaints about the gangster brothers without any fear.
We have noticed how the CBI exposed the political link in the money deposit-collection scam even though the police had failed to do that. Can we be sure that the commissionerate police will now find out the political links of the gangster brothers? And when that happens, will you arrest the politicians who had close links with them?
The job of the police is to trace criminals. If we find any person criminally linked to them, we will certainly take him to task. Law does not make a distinction between politicians and others. I can assure you that whoever is linked with them will be taken to task.
You must be worried with the increase in criminal activities in the twin cities, especially the trend of engineering college students taking to crime…
Unemployment is a big problem. When the youth do not get jobs after completing their education, they take to crime. This problem is not confined to the twin cities, but a countrywide phenomenon. As Bhubaneswar is emerging as one of the major educational hubs of eastern India and students from outside are also coming to the city to pursue higher studies, such things are likely to happen.
Senior citizens are becoming more vulnerable to crime. In the past two years, a number of senior citizens have been murdered.
After the commissionerate came into being, police personnel at all levels have been sensitised about the need to protect senior citizens. We are not only concerned about senior citizens but also the weaker sections of the society and women. All the police stations are being manned by professionals who can deal with the problems affecting these people. The number of registered cases has gone up.
Road accidents are on the rise in the twin cities, particularly on the national highway passing through here. How do you plan to check this?
We are concerned about the number of road accidents. We have to keep in mind that multiple agencies, including the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), are involved in the maintenance of roads. We are trying to establish synergy among various agencies to prevent fatal accidents. The number of vehicles on the road is increasing alarmingly. In order to reduce fatal accidents, I have decided to hold a safety audit on roads where frequent accidents are taking place. There is also deficiency in the parking system. The roads will be divided into various stretches and a detailed study will be conducted. A number of experts will be involved in the study. Already, I had a held a preliminary discussion with the transport secretary. Once the study is over, we will initiate steps to improve road engineering, traffic signal system and put up more signboards. The focus of each department at this moment is to reduce the number of accidents.
We have found that the motive of the traffic officials is to generate more revenue by collecting fines from violators rather than streamlining the system.
This is incorrect. Revenue generation is not our target. We want to bring efficiency in traffic management and enforce rules. Steps will also be taken to create awareness.
Sex trade is flourishing in the city. How do you plan to curb it?
We take action as and when information comes. If someone has any information, he can share it with senior police officials. We will protect the identity of the person. We will ensure that the strongest possible action is taken to curb sex trade.
Though the basic work to curb crime being done at the police station level, the special squad always takes the credit…
Good work —whether it is at the police station level or by the special squad or at the outpost level — is recognised. The person concerned will be rewarded.
The commissionerate police boast of transparency. Why it has not taken steps to put the property statements of police inspectors in public domain?
We IPS officers submit our property lists. The inspectors also submit their property lists to the state government. But the government has to take a call on whether it will put their property list in the public domain or not like it does in the case of all-India service officers.
lYou have spent a long time in police. Have you ever been under pressure because of political interference or attempt by political bosses to control police officers?
I have served under different governments. I can say I have never felt any political pressure. I have always been fair in my conduct. If someone says he is working under political pressure, I believe that man is not worthy to remain in the police organisation.
Most of the time police officers remain busy in maintaining law and order. It must be affecting investigation of cases?
Every police organisation needs to separate maintenance of law and order from investigation. The earlier we do it, the better. When the manpower is drawn from the police station for maintenance of law and order, investigation is obviously affected.
Before taking over as police commissioner, you were in the vigilance department. Can you say that the commissionarete police are free from corruption?
Police are a part of the society. There are black sheep in every organisation. The job of senior police officers is to check corruption at the lower level. We need to be more vigilant. If we find some one indulging in corruption, he or she should be caught by the vigilance.
TOUGH COP
A no-nonsense officer, 1990 batch IPS Yogesh Bahadur Khurania did his graduation in commerce from Kaithal in Haryana
After doing his LLB from Kurukshetra University, he practised law and joined the judicial service in Haryana
Later, he appeared the civil service and joined the IPS. During his career in the police, he has served as superintendent of police in a number of districts.
He handled the much-publicised Graham Staines murder case and arrested Dara Singh, the prime accused in the case
WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN HAD YOU NOT BEEN AN IPS OFFICER ?
All-India service is anyone’s dream. I have the aptitude to become an IPS officer. My ancestors had also served as police officers during the pre-Independence era.
My father also encouraged me to join the Indian civil service. After I completed my legal education, I joined the judicial service of the Haryana government.
Had I not been an IPS officer, I would have continued with that.
