Mumbai cop shows how it's done

KOLKATA: "Awaz neechi kijiye aur jo kaha jaye woh kijiye (lower your voice and do what you are told to do)..." A senior police officer from Mumbai who is in Kolkata as an election observer rebuked the officer-in-charge of New Market police station when he tried to give an excuse Kolkatans often hear -that an area from where complaints of poll-related trouble were pouring in was not in his jurisdiction.
The conversation between the two officers showed the sharp contrast between the two police forces and their different approaches to the same problem.
Milind Rambhau Bha rambe, an IPS officer from Maharashtra, criss-crossed seven assembly segments that voted on Thursday to take stock of law and order and ensure that cops play by the rulebook. A soft-spoken officer, Bharambe lost his cool when New Market OC Pabitra Kumar Mukherjee told him that Ripon Street, from where complaints of electoral malpractices were coming in, was under Taltala police station. When Mukherjee tried to raise his voice while talking to a junior Election Commission official, Bharambe ticked him off and told him to keep it down.
"Take your men to the troubled spot and disperse the crowd. If need be, book the troublemakers for violation of Section 144 and detain them. Please do it quickly ," Bharambe told Mukherjee when he was trying to contact his Taltala counterpart over cellphone. The mild rebuke worked. Mukherjee told officers of Kolkata Police and central forces to rush to the spot. This was only one of the several run-ins Bharambe had with officers of Kolkata Police, who were jittery to act against members of the ruling party . Milind Bharambe's day started at 7.30am when complaints started pouring in as soon as voting began. Within a few minutes, Bharambe's cavalcade was speeding towards Beliaghata that reported the first incidents of poll-related violence.The job of a police observer is to monitor that the police are sticking to the rules and aren't helping any particular party or candidate in any way . Ironically, the EC removed the top most officer of Kolkata Police, commissioner Rajeev Kumar, for his alleged partisan role.Somen Mitra succeeded him with a brief from the EC to conduct free and fair polls. Police are on test here, especially af ter a Calcutta high court judge observed two months ago that the Bengal administration, particularly police, is "spineless" and has failed to "provide justice to the common people of the state".
"I am directing all poll-related complaints to the divisional commissioners. They are taking necessary action. I will submit my report to the Election Commission," said Bharambe as he moved on to his next stop, a polling station in a community hall in Ripon Square. A group of voters had alleged that toughs associated with the ruling party had threatened them to vote for the Trinamool candidate. Bharambe sent his liaison officer into the booth while he had a word with the cops stationed outside and also spoke to some people. "Sir has sent a short report to the EC and forwarded the complaint to the local deputy commissioner," said a close aide.
At the end of an eventful day when Bharambe was asked if it was the stifling heat or murky politics that posed a bigger challenge, he just offered a smile.