A policeman has to be of helping nature and should be able to empathise and sympathise with people to feel their pain, says Dr Ajay Pal Sharma, Senior Superintendent of Police, Gautam Budh Nagar, Government of Uttar Pradesh, in conversation with Gautam Debroy of Elets News Network (ENN).
What steps have been taken by the Noida police to bring down the number of crimes in Gautam Budh Nagar district?
We have taken a number of steps to curb crimes in Gautam Budh Nagar by proactively taking preventive actions against criminals, especially those who are dealing in illicit sale of liquor and drugs. We have booked a number of criminals for supplying drugs in the district. On the other hand, we have also taken action against the Jamanatis (people who bail out the criminals) of the criminals. Our strategy is to take swift action against criminals to prevent crimes.
What actions police have taken against Jamanatis, who try to bail out criminals as soon as they are arrested?
Yes, it’s a serious issue. There are few instances where Jamanatis bailed out the criminals. We have caught more than eight such Jamanatis who were bailing out criminals through fraudulent means.
What steps have you taken to control the growing menace of traffic jams in the city?
We are following a two-pronged strategy: Ease out traffic congestion and prevent accidents on roads. Noida to Greater Noida Expressway is a crucial infrastructure for Gautam Budh Nagar. To keep a tab on speeding vehicles on this road, we have installed speed radars at multiple points and have been penalising motorists for flouting the rules. More than 40,000 challans have been issued against erring motorists till date. To reduce traffic violations, we are moving towards automation and reducing human interface.
Special devices have been installed to penalise violators of traffic signals. We have also introduced few innovative ideas which have helped in easing out traffic congestion at a number of places. The efforts are on to give crossroads wise targets to our personnel. We have already worked on three such crossroads till now.
What steps are you taking to curb cyber crimes which are on the rise these days?
Cyber crimes have emerged as a big threat. We have been trying to curb it in two ways. We are making people aware of it as well as taking action against perpetrators. Usually the young generation is aware of the modus operandi of cyber criminals, but the elderly should be made aware of these new age crimes. So, we recently launched a drive in which one constable meets one elderly person daily to make them aware about cyber crimes along with other crimes. We have coached 14,000 senior citizens till date. We are also running awareness campaigns through social media. We are taking help of digital volunteers and pamphlets with messages for our target readers are also being distributed in many areas.
But despite our efforts, lot of cyber crimes including impersonation and other fraudulent crimes to cheat elderly of the money are still taking place. Our cyber cell has been working quite well. We have unearthed a number of distribution scams, insurance rackets as well. We have detected three fake call centres and are trying our best to do more and more valuable work for the region.
How are you leveraging Information Technology in the Police department?
Every kind of policing has a significant role to play. The traditional policing, manual intelligence gathering and technical intelligence gathering developed in the last few years have their own importance. We are using IT to issue e-challans and receive e-payments. We have also been training our people in the latest innovations in IT so as to improve our investigation techniques.
What steps have you taken to enhance the safety of women?
We have a number of universities in Noida and Greater Noida where students from across the country come to study along with international students. We have been conducting review meetings with these educational institutions along with regular meetings so that a sense of security is inculcated into the students.
You have been called ‘Singham’ or an ‘encounter specialist’ by a section of media. What is your take on that?
These are imaginary names of Hindi movie characters. To work in the police department you have to adopt a certain lifestyle. It is not like any other job. A policeman has to be of helping nature. You have to empathise and sympathise with people and feel their pain. Encounters of criminals happen only by chance. It is not easy to deal with hardcore criminals who do not exhibit any emotional feelings towards their victims and sometimes harsh steps have to be taken to counter them. While apprehending or arresting such criminals, exchange of fire may take place. There have been many instances when our men sacrificed their lives and criminals have also been shot dead in such situations.
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