Mohali police under fire over ‘poor’ law & order

Tribune News Service

Gaurav Kanthwal

Mohali, March 13

The Mohali police are drawing flak for deteriorating law and order situation in the city for the past sometime. Incidents of firing and gang wars have become a routine. Residents and councillors say the police have been unable to curb crime and instill fear among anti-social elements.

With the Lok Sabha elections round the corner, residents said the situation would get more volatile in the coming days.

Daylight killings and incidents of trigger-happy goons wielding pistols and raining bullets in rage have become quite frequent here. Ironically, the frequency of cordon and search operations (CASO) at vulnerable spots has come down.

The March 12 CCTV footage outside a housing society in Sector 70 showed bare-chested, pistol-wielding youths brawling and firing shots. Five rounds were reportedly fired at two brothers, Sukhwinder Singh and Gurwinder Singh, music firm owners, around 1 am. The incident happened in a residential area in the heart of the city, but the police are nowhere to be seen.

Mataur SHO Gabbar Singh said, “All suspects have been identified and they will be arrested soon.”

Incidents of drunken driving and road rage are daily threat to peace-loving citizens.

On March 10, a migrant tea stall, Prakash Kumar, 35, father of two toddlers, died as a speeding luxury car barged into his roadside shop in Phase 8-B around 1.30 am.

Former health minister Balbir Singh criticised the police for failing to nab the culprits, alleging that drunken men mowed down the breadwinner of a family, but the police failed to make any arrest in the case. Three days later, the suspects, identified as Zirakpur residents Atul and Basant Prabhat Gupta (car owner), were booked under Sections 304 and 279 of the IPC. They are absconding.

“Mohali has become a very unsafe city at night. Police presence is negligible. There is no fear of police among bad elements,” said Swaran Chaudhary, president, Mohali Senior Citizens’ Association.

Councillor Manjit Sethi said, “Goliyaan chal ri han roz... A poor man sleeping in his shop is being run over. Vehicle thefts and burglaries in houses in Mohali and Kharar are at an all-time high, but people are being made to wait for weeks for lodging a DDR. Look at the number of theft FIRs being registered daily in comparison to theft incidents.”

Deputy Mayor Kuljit Singh Bedi said, “The situation is very bad in Mohali. Every day there is firing in one part of the city or the other. A single woman cannot think of driving alone on city roads after 8 pm. Bad elements are having a free run. There is no fear of the police. The government must strengthen the police force here as their number is very less. CCTV cameras have to be made functional.” Police officials, however, claimed that tenant verification campaigns and CASO were being held regularly.

Kharar MC jeep stolen

An official vehicle allotted to the Kharar Municipal Council was stolen from Airport Road on Tuesday night. Officials said the 2011 model jeep was used to conduct raids and checking of unauthorised advertisements in markets. It was taken away by miscreants from outside the house of a government official. “It was an old vehicle. The vehicle was parked on the roadside and a marriage was going on nearby. Miscreants came in a car around 2 am and made off with the vehicle,” said an official. A police complaint was lodged on Wednesday.

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