Maximum in eastern suburbs of Mumbai: 201 attacks on cops in 4 months this year

“There are our enforcement drives mainly for drunk driving and narcotics. Most incidents of assaults reported are from our nakabandis. The assaults have the same reason — frustration and irritability over being questioned by officers concerned,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Dhananjay Kulkarni.

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The maximum assaults were in the eastern suburbs with 75 cases, nearly a third of the total 201 cases. The data of assaults have been made available on police website for the first time.

The west region from Bandra to Jogeshwari witnessed 58 incidents, followed by central Mumbai region where 44 policemen were injured in such incidents, including sub-inspector V Darekar attached to Dadar police.

In the wee hours of April 19, Darekar was roughed up by three youngsters in Prabhadevi. “The men were evidently intoxicated and were making a ruckus in public. They first abused me and then tempers were lost. They work as supervisors in a club here and were brought to Dadar police station and booked,” said Darekar, a patrolling officer that night.

In another incident, a police naik attached with Sahar police station was injured during a nakabandi when a biker asked to stop threw a paver block at him in the early hours of last Monday, police said.

The 188 accused in these cases are booked under Section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code.

A senior officer in south region, where 24 such assaults have taken place, believes the police are “on the backfoot” as they are monitored by several laws.

“It’s the brunt we face while discharging our duties. Nakabandis are held every night and we stop those who appear suspicious but the public hardly cooperates even when you ask them to stop from a distance. Officers being injured at nakabandis is a routine happening,” said the officer seriously injured when a motorist drove into him in Tardeo recently. No cases of assaults were reported in far northern suburbs along the western line.

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