The staff on duty have to cover a total of over 6 lakh population in their jurisdiction
Representational image
Bengaluru: The Taverekere rural police station and its outpost, the police station at Byadarahalli, have only 30 police staff on duty. This, astonishingly, is despite the fact that it is one of the largest jurisdictional police limits in the Central range, spread over 89 square kilometers. The staff on duty have to cover a total of over 6 lakh population in their jurisdiction.
While Taverekere rural police station has 21 police personnel for its 2.14 lakh population, the Byadarahalli outpost has only 9 policemen for its whopping population of nearly four lakhs. And to top it all, one Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) manages all activities, shuttling between the two police stations. Thirty policemen manage their work by sharing the entire jurisdictional area among them, dividing it into two.
A common sight at the Byadarahalli outpost are throngs of people waiting for long hours to register their complaints, while the police officers return from their picket checking points and other duties.
Though there was a proposal to upgrade the Byadarahalli outpost into a regular police station, the office of the Inspector General of Police Central Range is still waiting for government orders to commission the outpost as a dedicated police station.
The Taverekere rural police station is one of the largest and most prominent police jurisdictions in the Central Range, in terms of both the rate of crime and the population it holds. Spread over 89 square kilometers, the jurisdiction has 156 villages divided into 16 beat areas with three parts of BBMP wards bordering the city police limits, and 12 gram panchayats. Five courts come under this jurisdiction – Bangalore South, Bangalore North, Bangalore Session, Magadi and Ramnagara session.
At Taverekere and Byadrahalli outpost, every year, the number of major crimes hover around 1000, with more than 3000 petty cases and Non-Cognizable Reports registered. There are about 150 to 200 unnatural death cases registered, along with more than 200 road accident cases and numerous missing/elopement cases as well as 400 other crimes. And all these are handled by 30 policemen – 1 PSI, 3 ASI, 8 Head Constables and 18 police constables, including a driver.
“As the area is on the outskirts and adjacent to the city, the population is increasing day by day. Taverekere police station has both city and village limits with the police tackling crime and other problems, both city and rural – property offences like house breakings, thefts and chain snatchings. The police staff is comparatively less from other districts as this is a newly formed district and it is close to the city, which has got more population,” said DySP Lakshmi Ganesh. “The people-to-police ratio in rural areas was fixed upon in 1972 with the then-population in mind and this is still being continued till the present day.” Speaking to this newspaper, IGP Central Range Arun Chakravarthy said, Byadrahalli will get a dedicated police station for its jurisdictional area soon.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
Next Story
