Sanjeev Kumar Patro

Bhubaneswar: It seems year 2020 rings in the bad days for the Casanovas on streets. Now, Roadside Romeos will pass comment or indulge in eve-teasing at their own risk.

The Twin City Police Commissionerate will be serving such evil doers externment  or Tadipaar notice. A court summon will be served on to their parents also. And to cope in with the manpower crunch to track and tackle such crimes, the Commissonerate police joined a select band of cities/states in country to induct Special Police Officers (SPOs).

While Aurangabad (Maharashtra) had initiated SPO scheme in 2017 to pep up its civil police strength, Gurugram (Haryana) police last year hired ex-service men as SPOs to shore up law and order in the city, with special focus on curbing crime against women.

Twin City Commissionerate Police have inducted all 246 female SPOs to focus on non-violent women crimes, especially harassment of women on roads and in the four walls of offices.

However,  the difference is Aurangabad and Gurugram police gave the police uniform to SPOs, which is not the case in Bhubaneswar-Cuttack. Rather, a special designed T-shirt for the SPOs was launched by Odisha DGP Abhay today in the City.

As far as remuneration is concerned, Commissionerate Police opts the Aurangabad model, where no remuneration is specified; whereas Gurugram provisions Rs 18,000/month for one-year. The tenure of SPO services in Odisha has been fixed as three-months, subject to further extension. The all-women SPOs will be led by ACP, Sagarika Nath, announced Police Commissioner Sudhansu Sarangi.

As far as the deployment of SPOs are concerned, while both Aurangbad and Gurugram police have decided to  render their services in patrolling the streets, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissionerate police will deploy SPOs in certain vantage places like colleges, women hostels, IT offices, areas vulnerable for women and at high rush public places where the women footfall is high. Overall, the SPOs in Odisha has a very limited mandate of taking on non-violent crimes against women.

While praising the Commissionerate Police on SPO, DGP Abhay said Odisha police will soon come with a call centre for women in distress on the lines of Bharosa, launched by Hyderabad police in 2014.

Speaking on the occasion, Police Commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi, the lead cop behind the SPO initiative, said, 'SPOs will be delegated all police powers, so that they can arrest an evildoer, if needed."

Significant mention here is the Indian Police Act 1861 gives the power to a police officer to induct SPOs from nearby society.

Section 17 of the IPA reads as when the police feel the police-force ordinarily employed is not sufficient to prevent any unlawful assembly or disturbance of the peace, it can legally appoint many of the residents in the neighbourhood to act as special police-officers for such time and within such limits.

Though Odisha has adopted the Aurangabad model, no word has been said regarding duty hours of SPOs in twin city Commissionerate jurisdiction. However, in Aurangabad, SPOs are mandated to give 12 hours a week to police during normal days.

And Section 18 of IPA states that Every special police-officer so appointed shall have the same powers, privileges and protection, and shall be liable to perform the same duties and shall be amenable to the same penalties, and be subordinate to the same authorities, as the ordinary officers of police.

Footnote: Although, the SPO initiative of Commissionerate police caters to rein in the crimogenic factors that fuel violent crimes against women, the fact is despite SPOs, Aurangabad still has a high rate of crime, namely, in assaults on women and rapes in Maharashtra.

 

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