Rohit Kumar Singh, a resident of Lalpur could not stop thanking the traffic police when he got his wallet, having over Rs 3,000 and important documents back on Friday after losing it on road.
Thanking ASI Dharmendra Kumar Singh he said, “It is work like this that help the common public gain more trust in police. I hope that the traffic police continue helping people like me so that the police public relation improves.”
On Friday, another incident occurred in which the traffic police nabbed two arms smugglers at Birsa Chowk. The officer in charge of Jagganathpur police station, Asit Kumar was conducting vehicle checking on Friday night when they found two smugglers having possession of an American Pistol, trying to get past the police. Taking immediate action, the traffic policeman arrested the two.
Similarly, on January 1, resident of Kanke Road, Vikram Bhandari was able to get back his mobile phone from the traffic policeman at New Market Chowk, where he dropped it. On December 29, a girl was able to get her bag back from the same traffic post, which she had forgotten in an auto rickshaw.
These are few of the many such cases where the traffic police have gone a step ahead of their duty of managing traffic and helped citizens as well as the city police, in social work and fighting crime.
Traffic SP Ajit Peter Dungdung said, “Traffic police is the actual interface of Ranchi police viz a viz public. Citizens do not often have to visit police stations and most of their interaction with police is on the road with traffic policemen.”
He added, "With the traffic policemen being more friendly and helpful towards the common public nowadays, people’s inhibition about interaction with police is now shattering. Now people do not hesitate approaching a traffic constable if they need help.”
The Traffic SP informed that in order to keep the policemen motivated, they are awarded on spot, every time they do some good work. “They are given financial reward on the spot. Also, it is entered in their service record which will help them professionally in future,” Dungdung said.
The citizens agree with the traffic SP and claim that these incidents help change their views about traffic police.
Santosh Singh, teacher at a private school said, “Earlier when we thought of a traffic policeman, the first thing that crossed our mind was corruption. We used to hesitate talking to the policemen earlier, worrying that they might demand bribe. However, now if needed we can walk up to a policeman and seek help, knowing that they would help us.”