The gruesome killing of a lady Assistant Town Planner, Shail Bala Sharma during ongoing demolition drive started by the Solan district administration against illegal construction by certain hoteliers and guest house owners on the orders of the Supreme Court of India, has proved beyond doubt from the information emanated so far, how callous the Solan district administration and how ill-equipped the police had been in this case.
Against the complete contrast of honest image of Himachal police so far, the failure of the police to prevent the murderer from killing the lady official and failure to nab the culprit, despite being present on the spot, definitely would be marked as a black spot in the annals of Himachal Police.
It is quite strange the district administration failed to analyse the ground situation and forgot to take adequate security measures during the demolition drive leading to murder of a lady officials. Perhaps, the DC was in a hurry to present a report to the Supreme Court to prove the district administration’s efficiency. On the contrary it proved its inept handling and callous attitude.
It was sheer folly of the administration to send a few dressed policemen to provide the security. Gone are the days when a single dressed policeman could create scare among people.
Shouldn’t the top administrators in police and civil administration be brought to book for their failure?
The police’s role is really shocking. They failed to act against the killer, was unable to retaliate to instill confidence among the public and officials, besides its questionable failure in nabbing the killer. The SHO of the area was present on the spot or near the spot but look how miserably the police failed. Strangely policemen on the spot failed to show the valour, which police force is known for. Does it really deserve to be called a force at all without bravery?
The police might argue it was ill-equipped but if can’t handle a common criminal what would be situation if unfortunately some hardened armed criminals attack? Failure of the district police to anticipate and provide security can definitely demoralize a common man.
While there is need to better equip the police force the erring district authorities also need to be booked.