Mumbai Underground

Under CIDCO’s watch

The duty of IAS officers involves planning,implementing and supervising projects. In CIDCO,however,senior officers have assumed the added responsibility of surveillance. Alarmed at the high degree of corruption that has pervaded the planning body,senior officials have deployed CCTV cameras across their seven-floor office in Belapur. The visuals are streamed live in the office of the managing director (MD) and and joint MD who,apart from clearing files,also monitor what the personnel are up to. “It became necessary to weed out the agent culture that had pervaded the organisation,” said CIDCO joint MD V Radha,keeping an eye on the TV screen streaming live visuals of the activities of employees.

Stars shine down

After an eighteen-month gap during which the top post in the state human rights panel was vacant,former Chief Justice of Kerala High Court S R Bannurmath recently took charge of the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission. Initially scheduled to take charge on September 16,the former Chief Justice decided to re-schedule it suddenly,owing to his horoscope. An ardent believer in astrology,Bannurmath said he takes up every new assignment strictly depending on his “favourable stars”.

Graft in uniform

A few months ago,Home Minister R R Patil had sprung to the police’s defence on the issue of corruption; arguing that policemen are underpaid and often,social aspects could not be overlooked when speaking of corruption. However,Patil now seems worried as instances of corruption in the police force show no signs of abating. At an internal meeting convened by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan,Patil said,“Cases of corruption in the police force are on the rise. Can you believe a police inspector appointee in Satara had to be suspended for bribery?” Patil wondered how a policeman could dare indulge in corruption within barely a few months of a new posting. However,neither Patil himself nor the CM had an answer.

Optimising resources

Personnel at the Bandra Kurla Complex police station recently told a young suspect to make himself ‘useful’. The 22-year-old man,who was recently arrested for allegedly stealing diamonds worth Rs 18 lakh from the Bharat Diamond Bourse,was asked to clean the fish tank of an inspector. The young man first helped to drain dirty water from the tank and then lugged a large bucket filled with fresh water to the officer’s cabin. So pleased was his supervisor,a professional cleaner,that he remarked to the inspector,“Yeh suspects bohot kaam ke hote hai (These suspects are quite useful).” The inspector,who is credited with reining in anti-social elements in the slums nearby,seemed to have grown fond of the youngster. “Tu punya ka kaam kar raha hai beta. Gym jaaya kar. Thodi body bana (You are doing a good deed. You should go to the gym,build your physique),” he said,smiling. The tall,lanky youth looked like he couldn’t believe his ears.

List-spotting

A list of 272 isolated and vulnerable spots in the city that the police had reportedly drawn up following the gangrape of a photojournalist inside the Shakti Mills compound in Mahalaxmi last month seems to be a mystery. Senior police officers from each region of the city were contacted to get information about these 272 spots. Surprisingly,none of them was aware of any such list. They said they had not submitted any list to the Mumbai Police Commissioner’s office. The list was supposedly of mills and playgrounds that do not have security.

Three’s a crowd

The investigation of the August 22 Shakti Mills gangrape case has been lauded as a perfect example of coordination between local police and the Crime Branch — two agencies that are usually said to be bitter rivals when it comes to cracking cases at the earliest. However,this operation,too,was not without goof-ups. Hunting for one of the absconding accused,a Crime Branch unit quietly reached his residence,only to find another Crime Branch team already there. The first team offered to stay as back-up and relocated to a smaller lane some distance away. Half an hour later,a city police team also reached the house,sirens blaring. They searched the house and left. The two crime branch teams then came out of their respective hiding places,exchanged bemused looks and parted ways.