Activists support ‘responsible’ officer Vasant Dhoble

The transfer of ACP Vasant Dhoble pending a CID probe, following the death of a hawker in Santa Cruz on Saturday has evoked sharp reactions amongst civic activists. They’ve termed the state government’s decision as ‘arbitrary’ and ‘uncalled for’. Activists have questioned if the state government is against cops turning good Samaritans.

On Friday evening, Madan Jaiswal, a vendor died allegedly after suffering a cardiac arrest during an anti-hawkers’ drive. “The political class has come together against Dhoble. Are they afraid of him? How come an official is transferred for doing his job the right way?” asked Aftab Siddique, a
Bandra-based activist.

Siddique alleged that the politicians were supporting vendors because they were their fund source for the upcoming 2014 elections. Rajkumar Sharma, a  member of city-based NGO AGNI, pointed out the root of the incident rests in the mechanism that is delaying hawkers’ policy coming into play.

Jaypal Shetty, a member of F-North Citizens’ Forum expressed a similar view. “ We should support such responsible officials. His (Dhoble’s) actions were portrayed as rowdy earlier too when he cracked down on pubs in Bandra. But nobody talked about the nuisance they caused. What happened in case of the officer is wrong,” Shetty said.