PUDUCHERRY: The Puducherry DGP has instructed Station House Officers (SHOs) to stay in police stations during night continuously for 10 days, to increase the vigil across the UT and to directly address all complaints filed at night.
A verbal instruction in this regard has been given to all SHOs, Senior Superintendent of Police (Law and Order) Deepika told TNIE. This will strengthen the patrolling, help in checking rowdy movements, and prevent crimes, she said.
The order comes in the wake of growing number of crimes being reported in the UT at night for the past two weeks. Several cases of chain, cell phone, and cash snatching has been reported along with cases of assaulting people on the road, attacking a cashier in a bar demanding free liquor, threatening people with country-made bomb, and the smuggling of ganja and narcotic substances. In Murungapakkam, rowdies entered a house at night snatched gold chains from an elderly woman, while the other family members were away for a temple festival.
Blasts of country-made bombs have also been reported near the railway track at Mudaliarpet, where police recovered four bombs hidden near the forest department office. Another explosion was reported at a liquor shop near the bus stand, following a brawl with the cashier for refusing to pay for the liquor and food consumed.
The SHOs, four of them being inspectors in the town police stations (Grand Bazar, Orleanpet, Odiansalai, and Mudaliarpet) and the rest sub-inspectors, will have to directly handle all complaints at night and address them. Every day, one Superintendent of Police will be on night duty, who will inspect the stations and report on the presence of the SHOs the next day. Following the orders last week, four SHOs who have been absent were issued show cause notices, sources said.
The SSP, however, pointed out that many of the SHOs are struggling with lack of facilities at stations for night stay. She added the DGP’s order was a routine one and that night stays in stations are done periodically for better maintenance. The SSP had recently led a police team to Kuruchikuppam and visited the houses of history-sheeters and made inquiries.