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Journalism of Courage
The Bhandup police personnel were rapped up by the police top brass last week for falling prey to rumours that monkey men,who could climb tall trees with ease and jump over rooftops,were trying to break into homes and kill residents before committing robberies.
Believing such rumours,local residents armed with lathis started patrolling the area. Some of them,mistaking three men for robbers,also beat them up. One of those assaulted was mentally unstable. What earned the Bhandup police a mouthful from the police headquarters was that they were encouraging such rumours through their actions. Policemen were visiting shoe shops in an attempt to identify whether shoes with special springs were being manufactured there,sources said.
What also went against them was the decision to call in a snorkel ladder from the fire department to look for robbers,who they believed were hiding in tree-tops.
The ACP of the area ordered men to go to shoe shops and conduct enquiries about shoes that had special springs built into the soles to make people jump to great heights. The last straw was when they called in a snorkel ladder to climb tall trees 8230; to look for the monkey men, said a senior police officer,who did not wish to be named.
At a public meeting held on Thursday,the Bhandup Police and the Additional Commissioner of Police East,Quaiser Khalid,were taken to task for encouraging such baseless rumours and promising an additional 200 men to patrol the area.
All special patrolling has been stopped in the area and assembly of more than five persons has been prohibited in the area under the Bombay Police Act, said the officer.
