‘Not possible for police to patrol all schools’
Srinagar: With the reports that government is mulling to engage security patrol around school buildings, the Special Director General of Police, Coordination, Law & Order, S P Vaid Friday made it clear that it is not possible for them to guard all schools in the valley.
However he said that all the Station House Officers (SHOs) have been directed to nab the culprits involved in burning of schools.
“Since the large number of police men is busy in maintaining law and order in the valley, how could we expect that they will also guard all the schools in the valley? At this juncture, it is not possible for us to deploy police in every school,” S P Vaid told KNS over phone.
However he said that Police is identifying the miscreants behind this act and all station house officers (SHOs) have been directed to nab the culprits. “I want to inform you that police have already detained around 15 people related in the case of torching incident of two Sumo vehicles in Parimpora of Srinagar and the mysterious fire in some areas of the city. I have directed all the SHOs to identify and book the culprits behind burning of schools in the Valley,” he said.
Vaid said that such miscreants are the enemies of society. “These schools will take a lot of time to rebuild the infrastructure; thousands of students are enrolled in these schools. It will impact the overall schooling of the children. People should thick over it and should identify these miscreants,” DGP suggested.
Vaid further suggested that the education department should ply their role in this matter. “I suggest the authorities in the education department that they should ask the Chowkidars (Peons) to stay at their schools 24*7 so that these incidents won’t happen,”.
The top cop also warned that nobody will be allowed to take law in his hands. “Some miscreants in Srinagar and other parts of the valley are continuously taking law and order in their own hands. I would like to inform that they would not be given free hand to disturb law and order,” he said.
In the past three months around 25 government schools buildings were set ablaze by unknown persons in Kashmir, causing fear psychosis among the teachers.
From the last two days alone, four government schools have been set ablaze in mysterious circum stances in Srinagar city, Anantnag, Bandipora and Baramulla districts.
On Wednesday night, a state-run school was torched in Pattan in Baramulla district.
Vaid further told KNS that the law and order situation is on priority and the supervisory officers have been asked to ensure checking of their jurisdictions frequently to bring visible changes in the day-to-day functioning.
He stressed upon cops and officers working in the field to respond to public grievances quickly. “People have full trust in JKP and are visiting police stations, police posts and police offices with their problems with the hope that the grievances would be solved on priority.” he said.
He stressed to enhance cooperation among the agencies to ensure safety and security of the people at every level. “JKP has been facing hostile situations in some parts of the state and the force has dealt these situations with professional expertise, using minimum force,” he said and added that JKP with other security agencies has always ensured to avoid loss of life and property of people while dealing with these situations. (KNS)