Kerala - Pathanamthitta   

Attempt to break open `bell of arms': police search for clues

Staff Reporter

SEARCH ON: The police dog squad `inspecting' the hole made by burglars on the back wall of the Pathanamthitta police station on Monday.

PATHANAMTHITTA: The law and order machinery in the district is searching for clues to book the culprits who tried to break open the `bell of arms', where police arms are stored, attached to the Pathanamthitta police station on Monday.

The entire police machinery in the district, including Superintendent of Police M.N. Jayaprakash, was on the road thoroughout night in search operations.

A senior police official told The Hindu that the police even suspect that "certain extremist forces" were behind the burglary attempt.

Monday's incident is an eye-opener to the Government as well as the police authority, especially at a time when there is hardly 35 days for the annual pilgrim season in Sabarimala to begin.

The Government had strengthened security at major temples following intelligence reports of chances of terrorist strikes at places of worship.

But, Pathanamthitta was treated as a less important district in terms of law and order by the State police authority as well as the Government. This allegedly left enough room for "unchecked corruption and some sort of a police-criminal nexus" in the district.

The "nexus between the police and the sand-liquor mafia" is an "open secret" in the district. A senior citizen in Kumbanad said both the fronts were responsible for the sorry state of affairs.

In many middleclass and upper middleclass households in the Kozhencherry- Kumbanad-Thiruvalla belt in the district, there are only elderly people who spend their twilight years in loneliness. They reportedly live in a constant fear of anti-social elements. Crime rate is on the rise even in rural areas.

There are reports that the police failed to implement the decision taken at the District Development Committee on September 30 to post two police personnel at the private bus stand in Pathanamthitta, following harassment of women and students by bus staff.

It is alleged that the indifference on the part of the police to comply with the DDC directive led to the death of a 22-year-old woman at the bus stand four days ago.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Attempt to break open `bell of arms': police search for clues
Paulose Mar Militheos to be elected Catholicos-designate

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu