On toes to nab POs ahead of polls, police team fights staff crunch

Ludhiana: With the model code of conduct in place, a team of Ludhiana police is on its toes to nab as many proclaimed offenders (POs) as possible before the polls. But PO wing in-charge said their task has become difficult as they don’t apt staff for the purpose.
There are 2,825 proclaimed offenders in the city, including 1,982 who had jumped bail and 843 who had never been arrested.

The Election Commission had already directed the officials to nab POs, especially those wanted in NDPS and Arms Act cases. Following the directions, the PO wing, headed by sub-inspector Balwinder Singh has nabbed 142 proclaimed offenders in four months of 2019. The PO team comprises 19 officials.

Till March 31, there are total 2,825 POs in Ludhiana, including 523 who are hiding in the state; 1,247 who have taken shelter in other states; and 67 who have left the country.

Out of those who are believed to be hiding in the state, the maximum POs (52) in Jagraon, followed by 47 in Amritsar, 44 in Khanna, 40 in Jalandhar Rural and 39 in Jalandhar city, police said.

Police said as far as POs in other states are concerned, 471 POs are hiding in Uttar Pradesh, followed by 366 in Bihar, 79 in Delhi, 69 in Haryana and 65 in Rajasthan.

Besides, under the category of out of country POs, 52 such criminals have taken shelter in Nepal, followed by 8 in Canada, 4 in America, 2 in France and one in Dubai.

Sub-inspector Balwinder Singh, in-charge of PO wing of Ludhiana commissionerate, said, “There are only 19 cops in PO wing, out of which five are on other duties at present while three work as munshi, computer operator and driver. So, with the team of 10 cops, we have managed to arrest 142 POs from January 1 till date. A total of 40 POs were nabbed in January, 50 in February, 30 in March and 22 in these 16 days of April.”

“We have received special directions to arrest maximum POs, especially those booked in cases under Arms Act, NDPS Act and those who may create nuisance or disturbance in elections. However, we are facing tough time due to staff crunch,” he said.

Ahead of assembly elections in 2017, the PO wing had got 23 additional cops, especially for the task for arresting Pos. “However, this year we did not get any extra staff. If we get more staff, the PO wing will be able to arrest more Pos,” added the SI.

On asking about the POs those are in other states, the official said the uncooperative attitude of cops of other states creates hurdle. Every time they conduct a raid in other states, the accused get information prior to the raid, he added.