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| India-Pakistan |
| Rejuvenated Gujarat police |
| 2002-05-13 |
| The "rejuvenated" police force in Ahmedabad swung into action almost as soon as the new officers [from Punjab] took charge. More than 60 persons were picked up from the rioting spot in Dani Limda on Saturday. Of these, 35 were officially arrested for rioting. Determined to prove a point and score over their predecessors, new strategies of policing were worked out and put to use overnight. Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code (prohibitory orders against unlawful assembly) was always there but "it has been put to effective use", was the tongue-in-cheek remark of the newly-appointed officers. Oooh. Lending a new dimension to the term "You're busted" are they? A policy of rapprochement was implemented towards the minority community with police commissioner KR Kaushik making the first move at Juhapura to meet Muslim leaders on Sunday. "There have been several such peace meetings in the past,too, let’s see what happens," said inspector-general of police PP Pande, who is in charge of the Vejalpur area. Sources said despite the efforts, these meetings had always ended up in a lot of noise. Kaushik visited the Shah-e-Alam relief camp and talked to the refugees on Saturday. "They (police officers) asked the inmates about the accused and their crimes, assuring them that they would be caught if identified," said Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh, a volunteer at the camp. Most of the victims of the Naroda massacre are housed in this camp. The new coppers were, I believe, imported from Punjab, which gave them no axes to grind with the added advantage of being used to working with Gill. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |