Bandobast-hit: Staff crunch pinches police harder now

While the city may be looking forward to the T20 match between India and Pakistan, one section of the society seems to be a harried lot—the police force. According to sources, the Ahmedabad police are under tremendous pressure due to inadequate staff in the concerned departments.

Departments like Special Operation Group (SOG) and Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) face extreme dearth of staff members. Sources have revealed that there are just 40 to 50 policemen in the SOG, where in fact there should be 80. Moreover, there are no signs of a deputy commissioner of police (DCP) or a district superintendent of police (DSP) to co-ordinate with the group.
But the crisis does not end here. A police official requesting anonymity confirmed that there are not enough cops to handle the events in the city in the coming days.

Facts reveal that there are just 7,500 policemen instead of 12,500. To ensure adequate security during the public gatherings, the Ahmedabad police had to call in for help from other districts.
“Inadequate staff is an issue and that is why we have deployed policemen from other districts,” said MK Nayak, DCP-Control. Nayak also added that an overdose of events in the city has led to this crisis. An assistant sub-inspector, on condition of anonymity, said that frequent deployment at various events was akin to mental harassment for them.