Hoysala misuse puts Bengaluru’s safety at risk

BENGALURU: Hoysala jeeps were introduced with the purpose of bringing more effective patrolling in the city. Senior police officials, however, admit that the system has a host of flaws that range from misuse to the 200+ vehicles being deployed for reasons other than patrolling. “If we allow the cops to move about freely, they will misuse Hoysalas. For example, they will use the vehicle to go eat food. Or they might use the vehicle to pick up their spouse or children from school.

Instead, we take the feedback from the DCPs of each division as to where the crime rate is more and get the Hoysalas to remain in that particular place for a specific time frame,” Ajay Kumar, Additional Commissioner of Police (control room), explained.

Senior officials have stated that constables are drawn by the local police stations for Hoysala duty and hence they do not come under the direct control of the ACP control room. This, however, was denied by Kumar,  who said, “They are under our control and local police stations have their own vehicles to use.” 

Each ward in the city has at least one patrolling Hoysala, which then gets used as an escort vehicle whenever a VIP visits the city. “These cases are informed at the last minute and we cannot deploy a vehicle from the Commissioner of Police (COP) building as it may take time. Hence we use the Hoysalas that are already near the spot. However, there is no vehicle to replace for patrolling duties,” Kumar said.

Hoysalas hoodwinked by miscreants

Kumar recalled an incident of theft behind the COP building, where the miscreants conducting the theft threw the Hoysala patrolling the area off their trail. “They called Namma 100 and told them there was an accident on MG Road. 

Immediately, the Hoysala went to the spot and the thieves were able to escape. We, however, were able to catch them later,” he said.