Is the Police Commissioner Bijay Kumar Sharma fails to rise to the expectations?
BK Sharama, Police Commissioner of Orissa
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Bhubaneswar (Orissa): Everybody knows him as a CBI man, his colleagues found impeccable management skills in him, while State Home Department more or less happy with the 1986 Batch IPS officer.
The former Crime Branch IG of the State replaced Binay Kumar Behera at a time when the law and order situation in the capital probably at the lowest following judo coach Biranchi Das mysterious killing.
The morale of the Capital police was also seemed to have low as Police-Criminal alleged nexus was hitting headlines in Orissa. At that time Sharma’s appointment as Police Commissioner raised a ray of hope among the general people and intelligentsias in the temple city of Bhubaneswar.
However after three months of his appointment, Police Commissioner's so-called CBI trick or management skills completely seem to have collapsed in crime control if reports of the police stations coming under Police Commissionerate system are to be taken into account.
According to well-placed sources, 24-murder case have been reported from 15 Police Stations in past two weeks, while the City Police yet to get a headway in Pritam murder case and Aiginia murder case, which debated most in Bhubaneswar.
Theft and snatch related cases are also on rise in twin cities.
Criminals have made State Capital, as their safe heaven while late night patrolling reportedly led by DCP Himanshu K Lal appears more an eyewash but nothing; the Police Commissioner prefers to revisit the Gandhian thesis.
Adding woes to the residents of the twin cities, the street drunkards virtually ruling the major streets in the city in night forcing the commuters to listen their music while liquor shop owners continuing their business even after 10 PM defying order.
Interestingly, instead looking on the crime figure, the Police Commissioner seems to be more worried for Public Relation.
Though he did not achieve any major headway in Das's murder case but he played his role in a bigger sense creating a new trend.
He started a new trend in the city naming it as “Police-Public Relations”. Since then, he is now frequently holding public relation meetings in the city inviting local residents. Response to the meeting is very well but crime rate yet to bring under control.
Right now, the Police Commissioner is planning to make all Police Stations under his jurisdiction as 'Smoke Free Zone', where as in most of the Police Stations, local officers used to smoke even in the office.
The trend is very much traditional in rural areas, where policemen still working in old fashioned manner but the Commissioner was also very keen to make the twin cities smoke free after Chandigarh.
Police Commissioner Sharma assured to Voluntary Health Association of India-Aparajita to extend all support and cooperation in the creation of tobacco free environment in all the city police stations and permitted Aparajita to put up 'No Smoking' and 'Smoke free Area' boards inside all their office premises.
He even suggested that Rs 200 would be fined against legislative violation of Section-4 but the Department of Health and Family Welfare should send a letter for taking the legislative violations as compoundable offence so that the violator would be penalised on the spot.
In addition he ordered for immediate implementation of Sections 4, 5 and 6 of the COTPA Act and more over he would be sending circulars to all the city police stations regarding this within a week.
Meanwhile many city residents say that this type of Public Relation is good as long as the crime rate in the city remains low. Police commissioner’s primary job is to keep the crime graph low and all other thing should be secondary for him says a Bhubaneswar resident.
