R-Day feat: Etah's outlaws turn into guardians of law

Vijay Upadhyay

Etah. Promise to shed the pursuit of crime and who knows, you may become a policeman! The Etah police seems to have adapted this ideologue to reform criminals. During the Republic Day parade held in Etah on Wednesday, criminals were pledged by the police to "protect" the civilians in the presence of Samajwadi Party leader Prof Ram Gopal Yadav. This new "para-police force" will soon be provided with Suraksha Prahri identity-cards by the Etah police.

The Republic Day Parade presented unlimited temptations to onlookers in Etah. Besides policemen, the National Flag was saluted by a contingent of armed civilians firing blanks from their guns. A large number of "Gandhi-cap" adorned history - sheeter criminals were also awarded with the honourary portfolio of "Suraksha Prahri" after the flag hoisting. Notably, this interesting parade also included over 200 policemen marching smartly ahead of the contingent of the armed civilians, who were then followed by the contingent of the criminals-turned-policemen.

The civilian gunmen had been trained for the parade by the police and they presented an attractive picture, wearing yellow turbans, black jackets and white Kurta Pajama. The criminals were also dressed in a set of white kurta pajama, with a "Gandhi cap" adorning their heads. After the parade, while the civilian gunmen fired "blanks" to salute the chief guest & Samajwadi Party Parliamentary Party leader Ramgopal Yadav, the criminals also took a pledge to shun crime after being awarded with the honourary post of "Suraksha Prahris".

This inimitable parade was the brainchild of the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Etah Anand Swaroop who has introduced several innovative ideas of policing reform in the district including inviting criminals to a tea party to share their views on crime.

In order to set an example before the criminals who are not yet ready to shed their ways, the SSP came up with the idea of including the history-sheeter criminals in the Republic Day parade and award them with the portfolio of "Suraksha Prahri".

Talking to The Pioneer after the parade at the Etah Police Lines on Wednesday, Mr Ananad Swaroop said that by this parade, the criminals who have decided to call off their life of crime forever were given a chance to be back in civil society that they have left in their criminal pursuits. He said that the criminals who had been selected for the parade were those who fall in the HS-B category of history-sheeters, which means that they are not a serious threat to the society any longer and could be reformed.

He said that the presence of criminals in the parade was just a symbolic gesture in converting them from history-sheeter criminals to "Suraksha Prahris", an honourary post of local security-man that would help them wipe out the stain of their criminal past forever while providing protection to the Etah residents.

But while the SSP is toiling hard to make the criminals leave their unlawful ways, some of the criminals included in the parading contingent blamed the police itself for plunging them into this life of crime.

Ramesh Yadav a resident of Etah has been jailed 27 times in his short life of 48 years, having committed his first murder in the age of 14 years to avenge his father's death. At present, he has 32 cases of murders, kidnapping & robbery pending against him in Etah but he claims that he has been falsely implicated in all these cases.

According to Ramesh, after he was arrested for the first time, he always committed a crime outside Etah but still several criminal cases have been filed against him by the Etah police. Ramesh claims to have completely left the life of crime for the past four years after he was appointed as a clerk in a local inter college and views the parade as a way to re-enter the social circles.

On the other hand, Thakur Darshan Singh of Saket appears to commit crime for fun. Hardly affected by the Gandhian ideology that his cap represented, he said that he loves committing crime as much as a journalist loves writing.
(UNITED NEWS NETWORK)


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