Asish Mehta
Bhubaneswar, Feb 8: The several murders in the city as also in Cuttack in recent months are a matter of worry for the residents. This has raised concern about the efficacy of the policing system in the two cities.
Feelings are that even known criminal elements are not kept on a tight leash.
Police sources cite a serious shortage of manpower in the local police force as the main reason for the present scenario. This is affecting the investigation mechanism as well.
In August, 2014, Rabi Narayan Lenka, joint secretary of the College Square Puja Committee, Cuttack, was killed over a personal dispute.
Rabi was shot dead around 9pm while he was standing near Sairam hotel at College Square. He suffered four bullet wounds, and was rushed to SCB Medical College and Hospital where he was declared dead.
In October last, Sneha Swakhyar Samal hacked three persons to death in Bhubaneswar, including a doctor, at Khandagiri Vihar on the outskirts of the city. The police have not been able to credibly explain the reason as to why the triple murder took place. Nor are the links between the victim and the perpetrator clearly established or explained. Saying that someone had a dislike for doctors and picked one and those around him does not explain enough.
In November, a trader in Cuttack was shot dead in broad daylight. Mohammed Farooq was murdered in broad daylight in his busy godown for refusing to pay an extortion money of `30 lakh. Surprisingly, the extortion calls were made from the Choudwar Circle Jail.
In December, Nilachal Mishra, a native of Ganjam district, was murdered here over a personal dispute. In January, one more triple murder surfaced in the capital. A 35-year-old man killed his grandmother and an elderly couple over a property dispute. The accused, with a criminal record, was arrested. And, more recently, a liquor shop employee here was killed. The police are yet to apprehend the accused in the last case.
In the midst of all these nerve-chilling incidents, residents are apprehensive about their safety in the twin cities.
S Rath, a resident of Nayapalli, working as an employee in a private bank here, said the rising crimes in the city clearly indicate criminals have a free run and the Commissionerate Police is not able to do its job. GP Mohanty, a resident of Chandrashekharpur, said even after the Commissionerate Police was formed to look after the law and order situation specially in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, there is no decline in the cases of murders.
High court lawyer Subash Mohapatra said the Commissionerate Police has failed to provide security to the people.
“The police work for the politicians and not for people,” he alleged. Retired IPS officer KM Deo, who had served as the Superintendent of Police in Bhubaneswar, pointed that the police patrolling is weak especially on the outskirts of the city. “The Commissionerate Police officials, in terms of numbers, are grossly inadequate in tackling the rise in crimes in the twin cities,” he said.
Deo, however, said the people also should play their role in helping curb crimes. Where they can be of help, they are not. For instance, people usually don’t inform the police if they see anything suspicious happening in their locality,” he noted.
Another retired IPS officer, KM Lal, who served as the Superintendent of Police in Dhenkanal, echoed the views of Deo. He said the Commissionerate Police’s manpower is grossly inadequate to handle the law and order situation of the twin cities.
“Orissa Police’s manpower as a whole too is very less compared to other states,” Lal said, adding even the allocations from the Centre to the state for policing were trivial.
