Karnataka - Bangalore   

Bifurcation plan put on ice again

THE STATE Government has once again put on the backburner the decision to bifurcate the unwieldy Bangalore police district. Though the plan in this regard was conceived nearly a decade ago, successive governments had deferred a decision on it. In November 2003, the Home Department finally cleared the proposal and the then Home Minister, M. Mallikarjun Kharge, announced that the matter would be discussed at the next Cabinet meeting.

According to the new proposal, the Bangalore police district will be split into two, North and South districts, each headed by a Superintendent of Police. However, the proposal still continues to be on paper.

Too vast

It was proposed to split the Bangalore police district as the existing area was not only too vast for a Superintendent of Police to supervise but also because of the fact that each of the taluks has peculiar law and order problems.

According to some IPS officers who served in the Bangalore district and Central Range, the bifurcation is necessary, as many major industries have come up in the district in the past few years, thereby creating new problems.

Further, with the international airport coming up near Devanahalli, the burden on the Bangalore district police is likely to increase in the days to come, they feel.

It was for similar reasons that a separate Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) police district, comprising the industrial areas, headed by a Superintendent of Police was created, officials say.

Apart from the spin-off effects of industrialisation, Bangalore district police are also facing problems from a large number of resorts and clubs that have come up on the outskirts of the city.

Many of these clubs have allegedly become centres for nefarious activities such as flesh trade and drug abuse.

A look at the composition of the Bangalore police district, which has five sub-divisions and 38 police stations, reveals that each of the sub-divisions has area-specific problems. Labour unrest, strikes and crime resulting out of industrialisation have been the major issues the police in the industrial belt of Hoskote, Kadugodi, Anekal, and Attibele have been dealing with.

While Channapatna and Ramanagaram are known to be communally sensitive, Magadi, Nelamangala, and Doddaballapur are often in the news for clashes between Dalits and upper caste Hindus.

`Mini Bihar'

Political murders, kidnappings, and group clashes are common in Hoskote, the "mini Bihar." Large-scale illicit liquor brewing and sandalwood smuggling that take place at Bylanarasapura, Medimallasandra, Shankinipura, Matamallasandra, and Kattigehalli in Hoskote taluk have made it a problematic taluk in Bangalore district.

Nelamanagala, Doddaballapur, and Anekal taluks are dacoity-prone and need special attention by the police, the officials say. Several fatal accidents that take place regularly on national highways passing through the district also add to the burden of the police.

Supervising the police force in tackling these problems becomes difficult for the Superintendent of Police whose office is located in Bangalore, the officials say.

"Bifurcating the district and posting another Superintendent of Police would help in better supervision of the police force and also result in effective policing," says a retired official who served as the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Central Range.

On the other hand, Mr. Kharge had announced, about three years ago, that areas on the outskirts of the city, which are under the jurisdiction of the Bangalore district police, would be brought under the limits of the city police. Accordingly, some areas in the limits of Hoskote and Hebbugodi police station are now being brought under the jurisdiction of the city police.

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