Restraint for peace 8212; Cops

8220;The police really failed to run the show that day8221;, Mahapatra acknowledged before a group of reporters. He denied, however, that the police adopted a soft8217; approach towards the vandals in the wake of the Surat police firing, in which seven people were killed during Ganapati immersions.

In the next breath, the commissioner defended the job done by the officers in charge of the security at the pageant venue, describing them as 8220;the best officers to take decisions8221;. He added, 8220;The police have to behave cautiously at times to prevent greater damage.8221;

Maintaining that Vadodara had been 8220;very peaceful8221; during the nine months of his tenure as city police chief, Mahapatra said, 8220;Police officials observed restraint because they wanted to maintain peace at any cost8221;.

Asked how he would prevent the repetition of such incidents, he said, 8220;We have taken it as a case study and are devising ways and means to prevent repitition8221;.

To a more pointed suggestion that police inaction against the hooligans indicated the force was either powerless before the Bajrang Dal or had just preferred to look away from its activities, Mahapatra was dismissive in his reply.

On the Congress demand for action against the officers running the show on Monday, the commissioner retorted, 8220;It is difficult to sit in judgement. Hence, no action will be taken against officers8221;.

He said that he had already ordered identification and arrest of those involved in Monday8217;s disturbances. When asked how long it would take to detain them, he said, 8220;It8217;s only a matter of time. No one will be spared8221;. However, he refused to give the names of persons in the arrest list.

Meanwhile, leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Amarsinh Chaudhary alleged that no action was being taken against those involved in Monday8217;s violence because the BJP government was under tremendous pressure from the Sangh Parivar.

Talking to Express Newsline, he said, 8220;The BJP government did not have courage to arrest so-called activists for, there was clearcut instructions from the Sangh Parivar. That is why there has been no action in cases such as this and the ones that took place in Bardoli, Idar, Ahmedabad and Randhikpur in the recent past8221;.