When Congress supporters torched five state buses on Thursday, policemen just looked on like robots minus their batteries.

The inaction continued the day after as the cops made no attempt to identify the culprits and frame charges under a central act against them.

Legal experts pointed out the crime the party activists committed could have attracted 10 years’ jail term had they been booked under sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

Instead, all 163 people arrested on Thursday and Friday for various offences were slapped with minor charges and released on bail.

Asked about the inaction, an officer of Gariahat police station said: “What can we do? It’s a politically-charged issue and we have got instructions from the top to wait and watch.”

On Thursday, a team from the police station rushed to Bijon Setu where a state bus had been set ablaze but did nothing to restore order or round up the vandals.

The Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act defines any movable or immovable property, under the possession of the central or state government or local authorities, as public property.

“The act stipulates that whoever damages public property is liable to be imprisoned for up to 10 years and fined,” said a senior police officer.

The claim by the police brass that a case under the central act had been started against unknown persons was rubbished by senior officers.

“There is no point in starting cases against unknown persons as they will never be identified and the file will eventually be closed,” said a senior officer. “Had the government wanted, we could have identified the arsonists from video footage and slapped cases against them.”

In April, the Supreme Court had recommended that the central act be amended so that leaders of the party which called for “direct action” could be held guilty of abetment to offence and made to pay damages.

But law enforcers in Bengal seem inclined to take a lenient view of such offences, encouraging political activists of all hues to resort to mindless violence at the slightest excuse.

“Lawlessness will prevail and there will be no let up in the attack on public property unless the police start taking tough action against hooligans,” a senior transport department official said.

Transport secretary Sumantra Chowdhury said at Writers’ Buildings on Friday that 17 public buses, including the five set on fire, were damaged on Thursday. He, however, could not quantify the loss to the state exchequer.