Author: Ashish Khetan
Publication: Mumbai Mirror
Date: July 10, 2006
Introduction: Special branch conducts survey
among city cops, submits report to CM saying morale is low after Bhiwandi
A majority of the city's police force feels
unsafe under the present Democratic Front (DF) government. That is the finding
of a survey conducted by the Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) of the Mumbai
police, which was conveyed to Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Home Minister
R R Patil on Saturday.
The SIB, which has 1000 police personnel on
its rolls to collect and analyse intelligence, carried out a survey to assess
the morale of police personnel after two constables were burnt to death by
a mob in Bhiwandi on Wednesday.
The results show that there is strong discontent
among the rank and file of the force over the government's response to the
killing of the two cops. Eighty per cent of the personnel questioned believe
that the DF government has failed to protect their interests, SIB sources
told Mumbai Mirror.
Five thousand police personnel, primarily
constables and head constables, were questioned for the survey. Those covered
reportedly said that they felt safer when out on the streets during the Shiv
Sena-BJP government since the saffron government backed the police force strongly
in dealing with rioters and anti-social elements.
Cops also expressed their dismay over the
attitude of senior police officers. SIB sources said that the constabulary
believed that senior officers were preoccupied with protecting their present
postings. Politicians, too, were only concerned with vote banks, they said.
Additional Commissioner of Police (SIB) Suresh
Kakkar conveyed his findings to the CM and to Patil on Saturday morning. Kakkar
meets Deshmukh and Patil each morning to brief them about the prevailing law
and order situation in the city.
"We have carried out an assessment of
the morale of our personnel in the aftermath of Bhiwandi riots," confirmed
Kakkar.
