Ensuring free and fair election is our priority, says Mangaluru Police Commissioner Sandeep Patil
Exclusive interview with the officer as he completes one month at office
Mangaluru: On February 21, senior IPS officer Sandeep Patil, assumed charge as new Commissioner of Mangaluru Police.
One month after he took over , Sandeep Patil has already carved a reputation for himself of being a no-nonsense cop. He has led a surprise raid at the district jail premises, continued the crackdown on drugs peddlers, has taken measures to curb traffic menace in the city and has more importantly reprimanded the anti-social elements and rowdy-sheeters in the wake of LS election.
On Friday, March 22 Vartha Bharati sub-editor Ismail Zaorez, caught up with the officer at his office for an exclusive interview wherein he spoke on a range of topics and shared his experiences of the city so far.
Excerpts from the interview:
Your views on Mangaluru city after completing one month at the office?
I was very happy to be posted here. It’s been one month now since I took charge as the Commissioner of Mangaluru Police. Mangaluru is a challenging posting for any officer. Having served in places like Belgaum, Davangere, Bengaluru city and Bellary I had never got the opportunity to work in coastal region, so I am really looking forward to this posting. The last one month here has been great experience for me. I have been interacting with people from different backgrounds and cultures. And since it is the election year, a lot of work has also been done in the last one month.
Do you think working here in Mangaluru during election is different than working in any part of the state/country?
During election the police department has to work in accordance with certain set of guidelines in order to ensure free and fair elections. So those things have to be followed irrespective of where we are posted. This is the fourth election as an officer, previously I have served places like Belgaum, Bengaluru City, Bellary and Davangere during elections.
The guidelines include weapon deposit, action against rowdy-sheeters and anti-social elements, setting up of checkposts etc, we have been working on all these things from last one month. We make sure that we take the complete control over anti-social elements which has been my focus right from the day one at office.
We have kept anti-social elements, rowdy-sheeters and those who can cause problems and disturbance under our surveillance they are being tracked as a precautionary measure.
So election work is more or less the same irrespective of the place you are posted at but of course there are local challenges everywhere. Similarly there are certain local challenges here in Mangaluru, and keeping that in mind we have been doing the election preparations.
What according to you are the core issues of Mangaluru?
Mangaluru is an ever-growing city, probably anyone who saw the city couple of years back will be surprised by the growth of the city today and every growth comes with its own challenges. With urbanization, increase in population and increase in vehicular movement will be there. So traffic congestion is a problem and we are trying to tackle it.
Secondly, in Mangaluru we need to take strict measures to ensure peace and harmony here. There have been a few incidents in last couple of years which disturbed the peace and harmony of the region. Now, to ensure free and fair elections the challenge for us to control all the anti-social elements in the run up to the polls.
Thirdly, another problem here is the social media, although it has its own uses but it can also be misused and false information can be made viral within seconds which can lead to the law and order situation. So we are trying to have control over the social media as well.
We have also set up our social media platforms including twitter. I have been very active on twitter and have asked people to co-operate with us, report the issues, problems and illegal activities in their localities, ensuring quick action against their concerns.
Growing vehicular movement has led to traffic congestion in prime locations in the city which has made the residents concerned about it. How are you planning to tackle it?
Tackling the traffic problem is the top priority at the moment and a lot of steps have been taken in last one month in this regard. We have added two towing vehicles to our fleet of vehicles and vehicles which are parked at wrong places and inappropriate positions are being towed to police stations. In order to make roads pedestrians friendly we have put zebra crossings at various junctions in the city.
Measures have also been taken against drunken driving and triple riding. Lorries and tippers carrying sands, jelly stones and other construction materials have been asked to cover the materials with tarpaulin compulsorily and actions are being initiated against the violators of this law.
Your appeal to the people of Mangaluru ahead of the Lok Sabha Election?
I will appeal to all the people of Mangaluru to come out in large numbers for voting on the Election Day. The Mangaluru police are taking every step to ensure peaceful, free and fair elections. Feel free and don’t be scared of anyone. Police department is there for your safety and it will take action against anyone who is trying to disturb peace in the region. Again, people need not worry of be fearful of anyone, police will take care of them and of the peace and harmony of the city.
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2nd WT20I: Shafali, spin trio do star turns in India''s seven-wicket win
Visakhapatnam (PTI): Shafali Verma hit a blistering unbeaten 69 as India made short work of a paltry target to outclass Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Women’s T20 International here on Tuesday.
India now lead the five-match series 2-0 after another one-sided victory, having restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 128 for 9 through a collective display of disciplined bowling from the spin trio of seasoned Sneh Rana, ably complemented by young spinners Vaishnavi Sharma and Shree Charani.
During the chase, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (14) fell cheaply but Shafali, enjoying new found confidence after a stellar show in the World Cup final, sent the bowlers on a leather-hunt during her 34-ball knock, winning it for her team in just 11.5 overs.
The hosts have now completed back-to-back successful chases within 15 overs which speaks volumes about the unit's sky-high confidence.
Shafali's innings had 11 punchy boundaries apart from a maximum.
The floodgates opened when left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera bowled a few flighted deliveries and Shafali would step out everytime to hit her over extra cover. Her footwork against slow bowlers was immaculate whether stepping out to loft the ball or rocking back to punch or pull.
Seeing her confidence, the newly appointed Delhi Capitals skipper Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 15 balls) also attacked as the duo added 58 runs in just 4.3 overs.
By the time Rodrigues was out trying to hit one six too many, the match as a contest was over. Shafali completed her half-century off just 27 balls and completed the formalities in a jiffy.
Earlier, off-spinner Rana, who got a look-in after Deepti Sharma was ruled out due to fever, showed her utility keeping the Lankan batters under tight leash with figures of 1 for 11 in 4 overs, including a maiden which certainly is a rarity in T20 cricket.
Charani, who made an impression during India's ODI World Cup triumph, took 2 for 23 in her quota of overs, while Vaishnavi after an impressive debut in the opening encounter, finished with 2 for 32, not letting the Islanders get easy runs in her second spell.
The last six wickets fell for just 24 runs, but what stood out during India’s bowling effort was their superb ground fielding. After a patchy show in the previous game, the improved sharpness in the field resulted in three run-outs.
Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu (31 off 24 balls) looked in good nick as she deposited length deliveries from seamers Kranti Gaud and Arundhati Reddy over the ropes but it was Rana, who kept her quiet by repeatedly pitching on good length.
Unable to manoeuvre the strike and with the big hits suddenly drying up, Athapaththu chanced her arm at another delivery in which Rana had shortened the length slightly.
Not having transferred the weight into the lofted shot, Athapaththu's hoick was pouched cleanly by Amanjot Kaur at long-off.
This was after Athapaththu's opening partner Vishmi Gunaratne (1) had offered a simple return catch to Gaud.
Hasini Perera (22 off 28 balls) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (33 off 32 balls) did stitch a stand of 44 but they could never set the tempo against the Indian spin troika.
Once Hasini offered a tame return catch off a Charani full-toss, Sri Lankans never recovered and lost wickets in a heap towards the end.
