Author: BP Saha
Publication: The Statesman
Date: June 21, 2003
Murders, armed dacoities, gang-rapes
and bloody violence have unnerved the people of West Bengal. The state
was once lauded for showing respect for the weaker sex but has earned notoriety
for savage incidents of molestation and rape. The police have failed miserably
to deal with outlaws, quell violence and uphold law and order. On the contrary,
they have submitted to the whims of political bosses, not discharging their
duties impartially and diligently and thereby alienating the people. There
are numerous instances when the police have either failed to take action
promptly or showed a reluctance to investigate or round up the culprits
on receiving reports of crime. In some cases, police denied knowledge of
the incident, took the plea of non-receipt of written complaints or tried
to either hush up or minimise magnitude of the crime. Interestingly, the
police are more enthusiastic about digging out the victim's antecedents
instead of arresting the culprits or busting the gangs. Complaints received
at the police stations are often ignored or kept pending. Often, after
committing a crime, the offenders are seen moving in the area defying the
police and the law.
Complaints
Complaints against the police's
partisanship is not always unfounded. In fact, the fearless excesses committed
by criminals and the acts of outrage in the presence of police reveal the
lack of determination to control crime or outwit the offenders. True the
police have lost the will to uphold probity and resist pressure. The people
look at the police as the ruling party's oppressive machinery. Incidents
of heinous crime and breakdown of order is a direct reflection on the police's
performance. Indeed, the police cannot absolve themselves of the responsibility
blaming politicians, political interference and socio-economic problems.
The degeneration has its roots in the late sixties and soon developed into
a cancerous growth. Indira Gandhi's brainwave, a "committed bureaucracy",
was adopted by her so-called loyal and sincere comrades. Law and order
being a state subject, the state governments promptly took the cue, attempted
to make the bureaucracy subservient to the political bosses. Admittedly,
the success was phenomenal. The ambitious public servants responded enthusiastically
to the government's efforts. Political parties want absolute control over
the police. The CPI-M's rule of 27 years in West Bengal has allowed it
to politicise the police and motivate them to serve the ruling party's
interests. Ironically, the police leadership, in spite of constitutional
safeguards, has failed to neutralise the baneful influence and revive the
morale of the rank and file, resulting in the police mocking the spirit
of public service. They have lost a grip on crime and criminals, failed
to control violence and deal with its perpetrators. Instead, it has discovered
a crafty device to oblige political masters. Dacoities in two buses carrying
bridegrooms' parties, the murder of the driver and gang-rape of the female
passengers at Dhantala by political activists, loot and gang-rape of five
girls at Goaltore, the police's delay in swinging into action and sending
the victims for medical examination reveals the police's desire to hush
up the matter. They reveal their indifference, cavalier disregard for duties
and partisanship. In both cases, the National Women Rights Commission after
visiting the spot and interrogating the victims, highlighted the police's
inaction.
Public pressure
At Goshkadanga (Cooch Behar), gang-rape
by political activists and the police's attempt to settle the matter and
later, on public pressure, recording a rape case, the rape of the wife
of RSP leader Dilip Midha by CPI-M workers at Basanti, the rape of a housewife
at Titkumari village, south 24-Parganas, the rape of a student by a CPI-M
activist at Pandua, Hooghly, and the police's inaction have all prompted
the aggrieved public to protest. The state sports minister had to face
an angry mob. At Konsona, in Bongaon, a seven-year-old girl was raped by
the son of a CPI-M leader; a women aged 25 was raped by the brother of
a CPI-M leader at Palashi in South Dinajpur; a 14-year-old girl was gang-raped
and murdered at Swarupnagar Basirhat; an attempt to molest and kidnap a
girl student in front of her parents was luckily averted on Park Street,
Kolkata . Political activists of the ruling party were the culprits in
a majority of the cases. These confirm escalation of crime on the weaker
sex.
Dacoities were committed simultaneously
in two houses at Ramnagar, Tarakeshwar; a dacoity was attempted in a bus
at about 10 pm plying from Durgapur to Siliguri; a daring dacoity was committed
in a bank at Durgapur; a dacoity took place in the residence of a retired
teacher in Jadavpur; Rs 11 lakhs were looted from a van of the CESC at
Beliaghata, Kolkata; Rs 7 lakhs were looted from a rural cooperative bank
at Pahalampur district in Burdwan; cash and jewellery were looted after
a couple were assaulted at New Alipore, Kolkata. All these provide evidence
of a sharp escalation of crime.
Murders without provocation shake
the confidence of peace-loving people. At Kona Sibtola, Howrah, Kiron Panja
was murdered near Shyamnagar station. A person was shot dead in front of
his newly wedded wife. A leather merchant was killed at Park Circus, Kolkata.
An assistant manager of Changmari tea garden was murdered near his quarters.
A CPI activist of Hariharpara, Murshidabad was murdered inside his house.
A CPI-M worker threw a bomb at a Trinamul Congress activist and killed
him at Kakorta Birbhum.
Pre-panchayat poll violence cost
47 lives. In Chopra, North Dinajpur, as a sequel to the murder of a CPI-M
leader, the police station was attacked. Three CPI-M activists were killed
in police bullet. As a retaliatory step, four rival party activists were
murdered and about 50 houses wee set on fire. Near Barasat, a Union minister
was attacked, a minister of the state government was heckled and his election
meeting was disrupted. A councillor at Konnagar was shot dead. In Malda,
RSP's office was set on fire. A PDS supporter was brutally assaulted who
succumbed to injuries at Uluberia hospital. A CPI-M activist was shot and
later died in Malda hospital.
Non-committal role
All this has revealed the apathy
of the administration. Instead of exemplary action, steps to water down
the failure or inaction and the escapism in the garb of negligence have
upset the people. At Chapra the murder of a CPI-M activist might have been
a sudden incident and the police was taken unawares. Nevertheless, the
police's non-committal role to prevent the murder of four Congressmen and
the setting on fire of more than 30 houses the following day defies all
logic.
Police initially refused to take
cognisance of the offences committed at Dhantala and Goaltore. Once public
sentiment was surcharged, the police started the investigation.
Often the police take the plea of
non-receipt of report which is misleading. In fact, the police can resort
to suitable action suo moto on any reliable information without waiting
for a written report. Secondly, on receipt of a cognisable report, the
police are duty-bound to register a case and start investigation.
Sadly, the chief minister has only
expressed anguish and admitted that a lot of undesirable elements have
entered into the party. He promised improvement issued a note of caution
to cadres. Unfortunately, no action has been against any policeman. His
image building exercise failed to remove the discomfiture of the people.
On the contrary, it has emboldened officials to persist in their own ways.
(The author worked as the Superintendent
of Police in Keonjhar, Orissa and is currently Director, Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad Institute for Asian Studies.)
