What’s Indore’s ‘Secret Midnight’? A step to make city safe for women

Indore: Remember that lonely stretch which you dread crossing late at night? Well, those you fear could now be in trouble too. Something is happening in the city to make them safer for women at night.Called ‘Operation Secret Midnight’, the exercise sends women in plainclothes to areas that have reported such cases in the past. The entire operation is monitored and recorded through cameras to document any interaction or incident.One such exercise conducted at Regional Park last Saturday resulted in action against two youths who allegedly whistled at a woman officer and asked for her name and phone number. Preventive action was taken against them.This Saturday night too, women police personnel in plainclothes fanned out across Indore’s streets, bridges and residential pockets past midnight as city police quietly tested the effectiveness of security arrangements for women.Teams from Rajendra Nagar and Rau police stations moved through areas such as Kesarbagh Bridge, Silicon City and Star City without revealing their identity. The objective was to gauge how safe women actually feel in public spaces during late-night hours rather than relying solely on routine policing reports.The operation was carried out under the supervision of Zone-1 DCP Narendra Singh Rawat.Explaining the exercise, DCP Narendra Singh Rawat said police identify one location every week where incidents involving women were reported over the past four years. Such areas have been mapped as hotspots and are subjected to covert surveillance.As part of the drill, women police personnel are deployed in civvies at these locations, while other officers in plain clothes remain stationed nearby.During Saturday night’s operation in Rajendra Nagar and Rau areas, no incidents were reported. Police viewed the outcome as an encouraging sign and an indication of improving safety for women in public spaces.The initiative comes at a time when police are increasingly relying on field-based assessments rather than conventional patrol records to evaluate public safety. Senior officers believe such covert inspections provide a more realistic picture of conditions on the ground and help identify areas that may require enhanced surveillance or police presence.Police officials said the teams did not encounter any incidents of harassment or misconduct during the exercise, a finding they described as encouraging. However, officers maintained that periodic surprise checks would continue to identify gaps and maintain a visible sense of security for women.“Such exercises help police understand safety concerns from a woman’s perspective and provide inputs for improving deployment strategies in areas that remain active late into the night,” said DCP Rawat.