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Tough as nails top cop vows to clean up Bangalore

M D Riti in Bangalore

"Saar, the constable on duty outside the Vidhana Soudha not only fined me for no reason, but also manhandled me when I protested," said an aggrieved autorickshaw driver.

He waited indignantly, expecting at best, that the police officer in front of him would murmur a few conciliatory words, or at worst, note down his vehicle number and list him a troublemaker in the traffic records.

He certainly never expected Hmar Twlante Sangliana, Bangalore's new police commissioner, to actually repay him the money from his own pocket, and assure him that he would recover it from the constable in question.

But those who have known Sangliana for years now know that this tough Mizo cop will most probably do just that.

After all, did he not, when his own wife borrowed his office car to buy vegetables, book a case against her?

Not just that, when he was Deputy Commissioner Police (Traffic), Bangalore, he even seized the chief minister's car when he caught it committing a traffic violation.

From the very day he was anointed commissioner by S M Krishna's Congress government, Sangliana began his endeavour to clean up Bangalore.

He lost no time in announcing several ingenious schemes, and has already begun putting several of them into action.

He has, for example, given all the city's rowdies a deadline before which they must surrender to the police. If they don't he has said that he will personally round them up.

Another of his schemes envisages every police station to be equipped with a big bell, which constables will toll hourly at night, to help citizens and the police pinpoint the time crimes are committed.

He also has plans to convert the city's most popular hangout -- Mahatma Gandhi road - into a traffic free carnival spot for two hours on one Sunday every month for the children of Bangalore.

On top of it, citizens giving information that leads to major murder cases in the city being solved will be given cash rewards of Rs 100,000.

And finally, police officers including him will work round the clock in shifts, so that the citizenry can always have access to officers of whatever rank they require.

Sangliana himself has reserved an hour of his time every day, between 3.30 pm and 4.30 pm, for the public to meet him.

Every police commissioner does this in theory, but Sangliana is actually making sure he is personally easily available to anyone who wishes to call on him at that time.

More than anything, Sangliana has always been known to be a perfectly transparent man, who does not hesitate to speak his mind aloud, never mind the consequences.

When Krishna appointed him as head of the Special Task Force to hunt down forest brigand Veerappan, he took everyone by surprise by saying the STF should be disbanded.

Veerappan, he said, should be treated like any other dacoit or killer, and hunted down by the local Mysore police in the course of their normal policing activities.

Similarly, he never hesitates to make politically incorrect statements, even if it means antagonising the powers that be.

For instance, he has, on his own, made a public announcement that he will not allow policemen to be used for bandobust duties.

"There are not enough of them to do good policing," he points out, "so why divert them for unnecessary functions?"

There will also be women at police control rooms to handle grievances pertaining to women in distress, he promises.

And the child beggars that dot all the city's traffic light intersections and commercial spots will be rehabilitated forthwith, he says.

Whether the government actually backs Sangliani to implement his ingenious remains to be seen.

But what has been seen is the Chief Minister S M Krishna earning himself some brownie points in the eyes of the citizens of Bangalore, for appointing a commissioner seemingly interested in making the city a better place to live in.

And the frequent refrain heard from common citizens in times of distress, "I shall report you personally to Sangliana," is more than ample testimony to the confidence the top cop inspires

No wonder, then, that the man already has two Kannada movies named after him.

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