Chandigarh cops stop tolerating attacks on them during lockdown

CHANDIGARH: Among 99 cases of assault on cops in three years, six of the 16 registered in 2020 were in the lockdown period.
Police had also registered 31 of these FIRs (first-information reports) at 16 stations in 2019, while another 30 cases were reported in 2018. In 2017, the FIR count for assault on government officials and obstructing them from performing their duty was 22.
Police public relations officer DSP Charanjit Singh Virk said: “The men in khaki have always been vulnerable to attack, not only in the city but also elsewhere in the country. However, the police department has now adopted a zero-tolerance policy to these attacks. Nobody can hit a cop now and get away with it.”
On May 23, a motorcyclist hit a police constable who stopped him from entering the Covid-19 containment zone of Bapu Dham colony in Sector 26. Later, the accused tested positive for coronavirus.
On May 18, a few miscreants in Dhanas pelted Sarangpur police station cops with stones, injuring a head constable in the attack. On March 25, police arrested two brothers in another case of pelting a police party with stones.
Cops are sitting ducks in the narrow lanes of the city's containment zones, most of which are in poor colonies where it's tough to discipline people.