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Kalimuthu (KM): The situation in Chennai has never been as bad as that of Mumbai. If there were a hundred there, there would be a ten or twenty here. Even out of these ten or twenty, Aasai Thambi, Kabilan, Mano, Kai bomb (hand grenade) Mohan, Military Kumar, have been killed in police action. Few others have been incarcerated. We have quelled the activities of Punk Kumar, Welding Kumar, Kaattaan Subramani, Thendral Raja, Gundu Padhmanaban, Sera and his gang, Vellai Ravi and his gang, etc. (The Commissioner calls his PA for statistics, verifies and then resumes…) Around 1800 rowdies have been brought to the book and imprisoned in the past 2½ years, after I assumed office. No other State Police has arrested these many matured, blooming and budding dhadhas, within such a short space of time. The fact remains that incidents of kidnapping for ransom, violence and such other activities have gone down to a great extent, due to these relentless series of actions. COL: A couple of months ago, the karate au fait Shihan Hussaini accused you of threatening him. He said that you called him to your office and told him that you would shoot him down as the Police killed Aasai Thambi. According to his statement, it appears that you have threatened him thus in your very own office. Do you have anything to say on this? KM: I for one would never utter such words that do not befit the dignity and responsibility of the Chair that I occupy. Besides, there was no such need. He was given a security with an AK47, around five or six years ago. That probably went to his head. He thought too much of himself. He assumed that he was the potentate of Tamil Nadu and that he was the avatar to fight all evil. He indulged in violence against video piracy, for a fee from certain individuals. The police have been receiving regular complaints against him from video shop owners and the public. We warned him through responsible officers against such activities, as per accepted and established norms. He did not listen. Instead, he intensified his activities. Probably he thought that he should rise to the level of another Dawood Ibrahim or Chotta Rajan. I therefore withdrew the security given to him, by an order. He was obviously annoyed with me. I heard that he made such politically motivated statements in an interview to the Jaya TV. Not a single sentence of the statement is true. I did not see it. I heard about it from others, later. I can answer the person, if he is worthy of an answer. This person was running a security bureau. He enticed innocent youth and employed them as security guards promising a salary of Rs.3,500/-. But I understand that while he amassed the amount that he received from the organisations, the salary to the guards was never properly disbursed. We received several complaints from affected individuals as well as from a few lawyers. We arrested him after due enquiries and have filed a case against him in the court. He is aware that he can't come out of it, clean. He is trying to whip up public sympathy by such false statements. Sometime back, he was arrested by the Delhi police and was put in the Tihar jail, for forging the travel documents of several persons, for a trip abroad. You cannot expect anything but a barefaced lie from such persons. COL: Complaints that the all-women Police Stations function like quack-courts (katta panchayat) are on the increase. What do you propose to do to prevent this? KM: The very purpose of opening all-women Police Stations was to go into such incidents like differences of opinion between couples necessitating police help, harassment for dowry, etc. The idea was that the policewomen would call for facts from both the parties and as far as possible, help the couple to live with amity. It has been brought to our notice that they indulge in katta panchayat in such Police Stations. We have conducted enquiries and have taken appropriate action against erring officials. I won't say that all the cases are handled with a rough and one-sided hand. There are so many cases of wife-beating, causing injury, harassment that surpasses all reasonable patience, etc. The husband and in-laws concerned have been advised appropriately. There have been legal actions against the incorrigible. The positive side is not seen at all. If anyone is affected at such stations, please do drop us a line by way of a letter. Inform higher ups. We will go into the matter and take necessary steps. COL: The public is not happy about the attitude of the auto rickshaw drivers. They tamper with the meters and collect unjustifiably higher amounts. Can't they be compelled to fit a tamper-proof electronic meter? KM: It has to be admitted that such complaints against the auto rickshaw drivers are the highest in Chennai, as compared to any other city in India. Tampering with the meter; collecting fancy charges, without even using the meter; picking up quarrels with the passengers and a variety of other incidents come to our notice. No doubt there is truth in these complaints. We have taken action against erring drivers. In the past 2½ years we have taken action against some twenty-five such drivers and booked them under IPC 420, where the meters have been tampered with and the meters were not used at all. Such an action has not been taken hitherto.
There are around 40000 autos plying in the city. There are many good drivers. For example, there is an association called 'Goodwill Auto Drivers'. Members of this association operate very honestly. Many of them come forward to help accident victims, women in labour pain etc., free of cost. Please do believe me. There are auto drivers who are unbelievably honest. A couple from London travelled by an auto. They left their hand baggage in the vehicle itself, while alighting. The driver noticed the bag after some time. There were jewels, American dollars and British pounds, amounting to about six lakhs. The address of the passengers was not available in the bag. He came to me and handed the bag over to me. After considerable efforts, the police located the owners and handed them their property. It is all in the individual's quality. COL: There was a notice board in a police station in Perambur, giving out the details of the rights of public and the authority of police. There should be other informative boards in all the police stations, detailing the procedures to be followed in calling for an enquiry, arresting, etc. We hope you will pass necessary orders… KM: Good question. We have sent circulars to all the police stations to display such boards. We have emphasised other general points like the public should be treated politely, they should not be made to wait for unduly long times, their complaints should be accepted and registered irrespective of the jurisdiction under which the case falls etc. We are taking action against the stations that do not adhere to these norms and appreciate the stations that earn the goodwill of the public. We will consider and implement the idea of displaying information boards as suggested by you, at the earliest. By Viththagan |
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ChennaiOnline
(COL): Chennai is becoming another Mumbai. There are groups of dhadhas operating in the city. Of course, it goes to the credit of the Police functioning under your leadership that goondas and hooligans like Aasai Thambi and Kabilan were killed. But it cannot be considered as a complete victory. The City can heave a sigh of relief only if the root is extricated and muscle power kneels before moral power. What are your plans?
We have in fact been insisting that all the auto rickshaws should be fitted with electronic meters. But we cannot compel them as all autos are in private hands. There are about 100 autos that are fitted with electronic meters, in the City. There have been no complaints from passengers in respect of these autos. 