The State Director-General of Police (DGP) rewarding two policemen who were injured during a gun fight with criminals in Kashipur in Udham Singh Nagar has spawned questions of the efficacy of such a practice.
According to observers, the police top brass should hone the skills of the personnel through training and equip them with modern weapons to take on the criminals instead of announcing rewards at the drop of a hat whenever police encounter miscreants. Palliatives would not solve the problem. What is needed is rightly empowering them to tackle the spiraling and changing pattern of crimes.
Training would instill confidence in them to look at the criminals in the face and adequately retaliate if the criminals show the spunk to challenge them, said an observer. Many instances can be cited where policemen have either died or sustained injuries during gunfights with criminals.
Things look grim indeed against the backdrop of criminals making a mockery of the so-called police preparedness to take on criminals. What happened at Kashipur on Thursday is that the criminals opened fire when the police teams raided their hideouts. They hit Prahlad Bisht in his leg while Pradeep Kumar was hit on his jaw. Besides, two constables - Dheeraj and Kuldeep - were injured as the criminals pelted them with stones.
Going back, in May last year, police constable Surendra Singh was killed in Haldwani by a thief who was arrested in a two-wheeler theft case. The thief attacked the constable with an iron rod when he was chasing him.
On September 29, 2013 right in Dehradun city, two constables - Angeshwar and Anuj of Dhara Chowki - were stabbed by one Raju Boxer. The miscreant escaped. The constables had gone to Naishwala Road after being informed of a brawl involving two groups of hooligans.
A few years ago, policemen were attacked several times in Haridwar district by criminals. In one such incident in Roorkee, finding two police personnel - Suneet Negi and Vikshal Kanojia - on their trail on two-wheelers, in a case of looting, the criminals fired shots on Negi, resulting in his death on the spot. In another incident, a constable Vivek Kumar sustained injuries when he was trying to rescue a boy from some abductors. He was hacked by one of the kidnappers.
Outside Roorkee jail last year, criminals were found on a firing spree. Police posted outside the jail failed to open fire on the goons. In another case, gangster Amit Malik alias ‘Bhura’, escaped from police custody while being taken to the court in Baghpat in connection with a murder case, giving the escorting personnel the slip on December 15 last. Policemen failed to retaliate.