PATNA: "But why didn't the CM Sir throw out the proposal of your transfer? He must be in the know of your hard work which was contributing to the maintenance of CM Sir's 'sushasan'..." asked one from the mob of collegians who thronged the official residence of Patna's SP (city) Shivdeep Waman Lande on Wednesday, a day after the
Nitish Kumar government notified his transfer on the state police HQ's recommendation within ten months of the posting of the 2006-batch officer as Patna's SP (city).
Lande did not reply to the question. The officer, however, obliged almost every youth, hundreds of them, who visited him with a request for an autograph.
Referring to the story of Lande's Yuvak Sangathan in Akola, published in this newspaper on Wednesday, a movie buff among the girls said, "You are our 'Singham' (the officer played by
Ajay Devgan in the Bollywood blockbuster)." Another asked, "Who will save us from molesters?" Lande looked at her and said smilingly, "Araria-Patna is 8-hour journey."
To MBA professional
Neelima Gupta of Ara Garden, the transfer was shocking. "My illness deteriorated due to spurious drugs as spurious druglords were having a field day in the state capital before Lande launched the crackdown," she told TOI. Nodded Suman Kumar, an accountant. "Milawatkhoro ki phir se chandi ho jayegi," he said.
"Now I won't feel as safe as I used to with Lande as the SP," rued the
Magadh Mahila College (MMC) girl
Reena Kumari (name changed) on whom a molestation attempt was made and whose father was assaulted for resisting the bid near a liquor shop at the I-T roundabout in broad daylight a few weeks back. Thankfully, the girl had the SP (city)'s number in her cellphone and Lande had come rushing to rescue her within minutes of getting a call. The molesters absconded, but police hunted them down.
"I won't say girls would feel unsafe now. But this is a fact that Lande's style of policing was good, rather striking," MMC principal Dolly Sinha said. According to her, Lande did not only police but also appeared to be policing Patna and, as such, created a sense of confidence among girls.
Lande's exit has many parents worried, albeit for a different reason. "The cybercafes, restaurants and parlours, which facilitated illegal activities and spoilt youths, may reopen their shutters," said a parent.
A former Bihar DGP said Lande was excellent and outstanding as SP (city). "The kind of operations he helmed was never seen in Patna town earlier. Lande's mission is incomplete and his transfer premature," he said. He also pooh-poohed the reported claims of the police HQ that Lande's transfer to Araria was actually his elevation in that he would be the kingpin of the district police. "It would have been a promotion had he been sent to a divisional town," he said.
Many of the traffic constables were also in a state of bewilderment. "He had almost stopped 'laheriya'-cut biking in the city," a constable said.
Not only citizens, netizens were also upset. "Everyone in our family is feeling bad about unwarranted transfer. He was one of the Best we have seen," Neelesh Sinha from New York wrote on a site.
Back home, activists of All India Students' Federation said it burned an effigy of the government on Boring Road in protest against the transfer. A candlelight procession was also taken out in the evening, demanding cancellation of the transfer notification.
