Nine cases of assault on policemen in 4 days in Punjab

Nine cases of assault on policemen in 4 days

Tribune News Service

Archit Watts

Muktsar, April 22

The statistics procured from the official website of the Punjab Police indicate that the cases of assault on policemen by civilians are on the rise.

Nine such cases were registered in the state over the past four days, which were over 10 per cent of the total 83 criminal cases registered in the state during the same period.

Two such cases were registered on April 17, four on April 18, one on April 19 and two on April 20. One case each was registered in Kapurthala, Muktsar, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Faridkot, Mohali, Hoshiarpur, Batala and Ludhiana districts.

Sources in the Police Department said they had weapons, but no authority to use them. “Even in a case of assault, we can’t use our weapons because then we will have to face a lengthy inquiry. Most of the time, seniors, under pressure from politicians, persuade us not to do so,” said a policeman, who is about to retire after serving the department for over 20 years. Some stringent measures should be taken by the government to check such cases, he said.

BK Garg, IGP, Law and Order, Punjab Police, said, “In most of these cases, youngsters had attacked policemen. Consumption of drugs could be a major reason behind these cases.”

Courtesy: The Tribune