Asish Mehta
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: Within days of five PCR vehicles being flagged off by the Commissionerate Police with much fanfare here, the seat cover of a van used by Nayapalli police station has been stolen.
Police sources said the seat cover of the patrol van (OD-02-X-8128), which is used by Nayapalli police, got stolen and the officials are clueless about the matter.
“The seat cover of the PCR van was stolen. The mats of the new vehicle have also been damaged after some cops threw cigarettes on it,” the sources claimed.
The matter has already been put forth before Nayapalli police station inspector-in-charge Suryamani Pradhan.
“We will find out which officials were patrolling in the vehicle on the night of January 9,” Pradhan said.
Interestingly, senior Commissionerate police officials have reportedly strictly instructed the cops not to smoke or consume alcohol while in uniform.
“One PCR van costs at least Rs 7 lakh. Five officials are assigned patrolling duty in each shift. There are three shifts a day,” sources said. The Commissionerate police January 4 flagged off five more PCR vehicles which were provided by Nalco.
The public-sector aluminum giant has provided at least 45 PCR vans equipped with modern technology to the Commissionerate Police in phases since 2009.
Nalco had donated five PCR vans in 2014, 10 in 2010 and 15 in 2009, said the officials.
Twin-city police commissioner Rajendra Prasad Sharma had earlier told journalists that the five new PCR vehicles will replace the defunct ones. “With the latest induction, the number of active PCR vehicles in the capital city has gone up to 33. The new vehicles will also patrol on the outskirts of the city to curb crime,” he added.
Police sources said one of the new PCR vans has been sent to Cuttack, which right now has 20 such vehicles.
