Salman Khan in his avatar as Chulbul Pandey and (below) Patna City superintendent of police Shivdeep Lande. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, March 6: The legend of Chulbul Pandey aka Salman Khan’s antics as a brave and fearless cop in the Bollywood flick Dabangg seems to have caught the imagination of probationary sub-inspectors in Patna. They began by sporting slim and trim moustaches.

Now, taking cue from the new City superintendent of police (SP), Shivdeep Lande, the probationary sub-inspectors have started zipping around on their motorcycles wearing cool sunglasses.

Of course, Lande has got nothing to do with Chulbul but then the junior officers, with their sunglasses and bikes, swear by both.

However, the new style statement of the junior officers has raised the eyebrows of a few other officers who claim that the probationary sub-inspectors are concentrating too much on style rather than carrying out their duties sincerely.

“It is hot and sunny and getting humid with each passing day. So sunglasses are a must. Donning shades is not bad or unlawful. Aur uniform ke saath acchha lagta hai (And they complement the uniform),” said a probationary sub-inspector.

Another probationary sub-inspector had a different take on the issue.

“The movie has ushered a fresh style statement long after Amitabh Bachchan made the police uniform immortal in Zanjeer. Aur abhi to hamare sahib bhi sunglass lagate hai. (And now even our boss wears the sunglasses). He looks very nice and we are just inspired by him. This in no way affects our job. We are police officers and we take our job very serio- usly,” another serious looking probationary sub-inspec- tor said.

At present, around 100 probationary sub-inspectors are posted at different police stations of the state capital.

These junior officers work everywhere, they assist investigations in the police stations, man the anti-rash driving cell, help regulate traffic and check vehicles apart from doing office-related work.

Once they complete their year-long probation period, they are made sub-inspectors and then posted at different police stations.

“We definitely take care of the decency level. It is not that we go around hanging the sunglass in the back of the uniform collar as Salman Khan’s character does in Dabangg. Then what is wrong in wearing them the proper way? Our City SP looks dashing wearing them. We are always serious about our duties just as he is,” said another cop.

The sunglass factor though is not going down well with some officers.

“The probationary sub-inspectors need to be serious as they are under a year’s training. Many a time, the probationary sub-inspectors forget the basics and we have to keep on repeating the same things. Some people have also complained about probationary sub-inspectors being rude. They should stop wearing the sunglasses and concentrate. This is not a fashion show. The senior officers are entitled to do it as they have toiled hard to achieve things in life. But probationary sub-inspectors are yet to start their career even,” a senior officer said.

Earlier, there have been some cases of probationary sub-inspectors landing on the wrong side of the law.

On December 29 last year, two policemen, an assistant sub-inspector and a probationary sub-inspector got into an altercation before exchanging blows at the busy Govind Mitra Road under Pirbhore police station. The public gaped at the two policemen while they hurled abuses at each other and fought.

On January 10 this year, a probationary sub-inspector allegedly beat up a shopke- eper of Hari Nivas under Kotwali police station. The local businessmen blocked the road in protest. The Patna police headquarters suspended Deepak Kumar, the probationary sub-inspector concerned.

“Wearing sunglasses is nothing wrong but then if they are being worn with an uniform, these young officers should be aware of their responsibilities. They should know that the public looks up to them. They should draw criticism for their actions,” another police officer said.