Policing with a purpose

These MP cops have emerged as social media icons, harnessing the power of digital platforms to empower citizens with information while cautioning them against crime, writes Anuraag Singh
Policing with a purpose
Updated on
4 min read

MADHYA PRADESH: Meet the social media-savvy cops of Madhya Pradesh, who are harnessing the power of digital platforms to educate, empower, and safeguard citizens, while setting a new standard for community policing.

At a time when police forces across India are increasingly zeroing in on the virtual world to curb its misuse, a small but effectively-communicating group of cops in Madhya Pradesh have emerged as social media icons on a mission to usher in positive changes in society.

These cops resemble a band of “superheroes” who are not only stopping crimes and mishaps but, through their social media handles, are also empowering thousands of people with information about traffic safety and cybercrime, among others.

Some of them are already famous, like Rajesh Dandotiya, additional DCP (crime) Indore Police, and Prashant Choubey, an additional SP in Vidisha district. But, there are others too, who are making a mark.

Posted in eastern MP’s Shahdol district and promoted just a few months back as head constable, 35-year-old traffic cop Vivekanand Tiwari is on a mission to educate people on the ABCD of traffic safety and all related aspects. He has 76 lakh YouTube subscribers, 31 lakh followers on Facebook and 12 lakh on Instagram.

Before and after his eight hours of official duty at the designated road traffic point daily, Tiwari, along with a cameraman, spends a couple hours at various routes and mingles freely with commoners, particularly youths, for whom he is a big attraction.

Spanning from young children riding their bicycles and youngsters on bikes and scooters to farmers on tractors and truckers on heavy vehicles, Tiwari stops them with a smile on his face and educates them with key lessons of road traffic rules, which are important not just for safe transport but also to save their kitty from avoidable traffic challans.

Rajni Chauhan
Rajni Chauhan

His love for teaching the commoners about road traffic and safety rules has not just saved people from unnecessary challans but also helped them save money plausibly while getting the prized high-security registration number plates.

Don’t be surprised if the head constable hailing from Rewa district meets you while you are driving or walking the streets and lanes of tribal-dominated Shahdol district. His latest videos include tips for all those purchasing second-hand vehicles. His commitment to road safety has not just been a hit in Shahdol and other districts of MP but even saved a youngster’s life in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency around a year ago.

“It was to my pleasant surprise that I got a call on my phone from Varanasi, who told me that my safe driving tips from one of the videos helped his son save his life from a sudden speeding truck,” Tiwari recalled.

Out of the plethora of educational and interactive videos/reels shot by Tiwari, more than 150 have attracted one crore views each, with one of them getting the maximum of 24 crore views.

Six hundred kilometres away at Pohri police station in Shivpuri district, inspector in-charge Rajni Chauhan, too, is a social media icon who is focused on promoting issues such as women empowerment, child education and informing people about the ill effects of child marriage and cyber crimes like digital arrest.

Enjoying a large follower/subscriber base of 464k Facebook followers, 609K on Instagram and 7K on YouTube, the 34-year-old police inspector is not alone in her mission to usher a positive change in society but is joined in the interactive videos by her 5-year-old kindergarten student daughter Shivaya.

“It’s a very satisfying experience when, at the end of the day, it’s clear that these efforts of mingling with the commonest of people, particularly with women and girls in their own rustic lingo, is helping people, particularly kids, shed the sense of fear for cops,” Chauhan says proudly.

 Ravindra Singh
Ravindra Singh

Chauhan, however, is not just arousing the proactive interests of people, particularly Generation Y, in issues of women empowerment and child education but has used her trusted follower base in the same district to bust a nework of drug peddlers.“During my previous posting at Physical Police Station in Shivpuri district, it was someone among the social media follower base who came forward with specific and reliable inputs which helped us in busting a ring of drug peddlers.”

In the state capital, Bhopal, meanwhile, sub-inspector in-charge of Hamidia Chowki, Ravindra Singh, is using the power of social media to help youngsters prepare for physical tests of various government recruitment tests and stay fit overall.

In his videos/reels, Singh makes it a point to narrate how he transformed from a lean boy into a brawny youth with a disciplined life and utmost dedication. With a large base of 376K followers on Instagram, Singh is also educating citizens against the rising cases of cyber crime, especially digital arrest.

On lines of Singh, constable Sandip Yadav in CM Dr Mohan Yadav’s home district, Ujjain’s Birlagram police station, is on a mission to prevent people from cyber fraud, particularly digital arrest, and save teenagers from taking any extreme step after failing in the examinations.

Having over 81K followers on Instagram, his videos have been used by many others in Ujjain to educate parents not to put unnecessary pressure of results on the psyche of school-going children.

“My videos against digital arrest fraud saved a Bhajan Mandali musician from losing hard-earned money due to digital arrest some weeks back. When he came and hugged me with tearful eyes, it was like winning a trophy,” remembered Yadav.

Social media-savvy cop empowers women

rajni chauhan is focused on promoting issues such as women empowerment, child education and informing people about the ill effects of child marriage and cyber crimes like digital arrest. “it’s a very satisfying experience when, at the end of the day, it’s clear that these efforts of mingling with the commonest of people, particularly with women and girls in their own rustic lingo, is helping people, particularly kids, shed the sense of fear for cops,” chauhan says proudly.

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