That the Gautam Budh Nagar district police is unable to maintain law and order effectively is hardly surprising when the number of posts lying vacant within the force is taken into account.
The law enforcing agency says over 27 per cent of various posts have been vacant for months. There are around 3,800 sanctioned posts and 1,047 of them, including six of the DSP rank, have not been filled.
The SSP recently wrote to IG Meerut for creation of six new police stations, which has also been turned down. Out of 40 patrol cars, one-third of the number are not in running condition and have been gathering dusting in various police stations in the district. Ultimately, it has been affecting police patrolling in the region. Suck inadequacies are reflected on the crime graph.
A senior police official said that though the population of the district here has registered more than two fold increase in last 20 years, the strength of the district police has not been augmented. He said this shortage hampers policing and while dealing crucial incidents, inadequacy and insensitivity of the force comes to the fore.
A 21-year-old girl of Chhotpur village was raped and murdered by two accomplices in the first week of January this year and when the victim's family headed to the nearest police station, the chowkiwas deserted.
The staff crunch was also evident during the all-India trade unions' stir in February when arson and loot erupted in the industrial areas of Noida and Greater Noida. At the time of incident, posts of Superintendent of Police (Crime), Circle Officer-I (Noida), Circle Officer (Crime) of the area were vacant. There was no senior official at the police station under which the strife-hit areas fell. The Station Officer of Phase-II police station, where violence took place, was removed just a day before the violence and a Senior Sub Inspector (SSI) was handed over the charge.
Shortage of police personnel was also evident during the closure of Kalindi Kunj bridge for repairing. At the time, the traffic flow was diverted to the Delhi-Noida Direct (DND) flyway and influx of vehicles led to traffic snarls. During peak hours, lakhs of motorists spent hours on the various roads of the city while traffic police were rarely seen. Superintendent of Police (Traffic) could not visit affected stretches as he was reported to be out of the town and no senior police official was there to look after in his absence.
Bhavesh Kumar Singh, Inspector General (IG) Meerut range, said that the department has written to the State Government on several occasions in this regard but no measure has been taken so far.
"We know that Gautam Budh Nagar Police is facing acute shortage of police and that resulted in spurt in crime. We have requested the Government to allot more junior level police officers and are expecting that around 40,000 constables will join the force this year. We have also sought more senior level officials so that major crimes could be controlled," he said.