Gurdaspur SSP
Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh was posted as Senior Superintendent of Police of Gurdaspur District in January 2007 on the directions of Election Commission of India. He assumed this charge on 10.01.2007 when Model Code of Conduct was already in operation for Assembly Elections. His first and foremost task was to conduct Assembly Elections in Gurdaspur District. He ensured free and impartial elections which held on 14 February 2007. After completion of the elections, he made an attempt to streamline the routine policing in this border district of strategic importance. Gurdaspur District shares its borders with Pakistan, J&K and Himachal Pradesh. Pathankot City in this district is the sole link between the J&K and the rest of India. The officer first separated investigation from the general law and order. He installed complaint boxes in the cities of Pathankot and Gurdaspur besides rural police stations. He deputed PROs in the police stations to make community friendly atmosphere there. He also streamlined the traffic system in Pathankot City. He endeavored to control the menace of narcotics drugs in this district. After serving nearly three months in Gurdaspur, Kunwar was appointed as the Senior Superintendent of Police of the holy city of Amritsar.
Assembly Elections peacefully conducted in the District
Elections for the Punjab Legislative Assembly were conducted in a free, fair and impartial manner despite speculations of large scale violence. The percentage of poll was 77 %, which is 5% more than the average polling in the State. The police made a foolproof security arrangement to maintain law and order during the polls. The borders with Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh were sealed and special vigil was kept on the international border with Pakistan. SSP Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh congratulated the officials for ensuring peaceful elections in this hyper sensitive district. He received appreciation letter from the Director General of Police Punjab for this task.
Community Oriented Policing in Gurdaspur District
Gurdaspur Police has launched Community Oriented Policing to provide better services to the common people. In order to streamline the grievance redressal system, PROs (Public Relations Officers) have been posted in each Police Station headed by an ASI assisted by four Constables/Head constables including two Lady Police officers of the rank of Constable/Head Constable. The PROs are working as Community Police Officers. People coming to the Police Station can lodge their grievances with the PRO team. The FIR book and Station diary remain with this team. The system has received very good response from the common public. Basically, this has wiped out British model of Munshi system and Daroga system from the policing at the root level. Besides this, complaints cum suggestion boxes have been installed in each Police Station as well as at public places in the cities of Pathankot and Gurdaspur. People can drop their grievances if they are not entertained in the Police Stations. The common people are also coming forward with suggestions and information regarding crime and criminals. The keys of the boxes are with the SSP and he personally opens it, daily in the cities and weekly in the rural areas. To ensure better accessibility, three mobile numbers (cell phone) have been made public -- One is with Police Control room, another in the SSP office and the third one is with the SSP. All the three mobile numbers remain open round the clock. The SSP does not hesitate to attend phone calls even at midnight if someone is in trouble. All the officers now take keen interest to listen to the common people Contact details: PCR: 01874-221966, 9876170350 SSP office: 01874-241173(office hour), 9876424042(24 hours) SSP: 9814085205, 9915737465(24 hours) E-mail: policehelp100@gmail.com
Kidnapped boy rescued within 6 hours
The Gurdaspur Police got success to rescue a boy who was kidnapped on January 18 while going to school. A ten year old boy Sahil was on his way to school on the College road when two motor cycle-borne youths kidnapped him around 9 a.m. However the Police acting in a professional manner rescued him within 6 hours of kidnapping. All the four kidnappers were arrested by the police on the tip off given by a school teacher. Interestingly the teacher saw the boy with the kidnappers however she did not raise alarm as the boy was seen comfortable with the culprits who were distantly related with the family. This was a case of kidnapping for ransom. When police sounded a red alert in the area, on noticing policemen at a checkpoint, the kidnappers escaped after leaving the boy and abandoning their motor cycle at a shop near Pandori Mahantan. However two of them were nabbed on the spot with the help of the community. Two persons of the community chased the culprits with the police and help to nab other two culprits also. The police also took help from the service provider of the cell phone company to trace the identity and location of the offenders. Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, SSP Gurdaspur himself led the operation. SP Detective Parambir Singh Parmar, DSP Shailender Singh, DSP Harvinder Singh, Inspector Paramjit Singh and other Police officers alongwith members of the community were awarded with commendation certificates for actively participating in the operation.
Man posing as CBI SP held
Gurdaspur Police, acting on a tip off, arrested one Praveen Kumar who duped a number of unemployed persons of lakhs of rupees on the pretext of getting them lucrative jobs in the CBI. He has duped more than 20 youths in Pathankot area by issuing fake joining letters. Interestingly, many of them went to Calcutta and Bombay offices of the CBI to join there but returned back joining letters being fake. The person charged Rs. 3.57 lakhs for the post of Constable in the CBI and also promised rebate of Rs. 50,000/ for the Ex-servicemen. After interrogation it was found that the same person was caught in Amritsar in 2002 by Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, the then SP City Amritsar(Now SSP Gurdaspur) for similar types of cases. He was on bail in various cases pending against him. The man happens to be a witness in a case investigated by the CBI and worked as an informer (source) for some CBI officers.
Police goes hi-tech; Internet replaces ‘munshi’ system
Bipin Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Gurdaspur, March 26
Going hi-tech, the district police has done away with the munshi and the daroga system. In the era of computers, munshis and darogas, who were in direct public dealing since the British rule, have now been replaced with the Internet. The e-mail system has been introduced in the functioning of the department by the district police chief Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who is also heading the charge of Batala, a separate police district created during militancy. To ensure accessibility, three mobile cell numbers, 9876170350 at the police control room, 9876424042 at the SSP office and 9814085205 with the SSP, have been made available round the clock. In addition, an e-mail ID (policehelp100@gmail.com) has also been dedicated to receive complaints and suggestions from general public. Talking to The Tribune, Vijay Pratap Singh claimed that teams of public relation officers (PROs) had been constituted to hear public grievances at each police station. Complainants feeling unattended at police stations could contact the PRO team and lodge their complaints. "We have also separated investigation from law and order at police stations and at the district level as well. We already have standing order from the inspector general of police (IGP) since 1977, however, it was not operational at the police station level. We have implemented it with partial modifications," the SSP claimed. The complainants can send their complaints to the SSP directly on the e-mail and the FIRs will be registered on the basis of information sent at this account. Complaint/ suggestion boxes have also been placed at all police stations and public places in Gurdaspur and Pathankot? Informers can drop details of crime and criminals in these boxes. (http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070327/punjab1.htm#??)
Training Seminar on Police Accountability
Gurdaspur// 04 April 2007 A training seminar for the Police officers of the rank of Inspector, Sub-Inspector and ASI working in the police stations was organized today in the Police Line Gurdaspur on 28.03.2007. Besides SSP and other senior police officers, this seminar was addressed by the District & sessions Judge, Deputy Commissioner and District Attorney of Gurdaspur. Around 85 police officers from Gurdaspur police district participated in this seminar.
The purpose of this seminar is: To improve day to day working of Police To improve the quality of investigation To make the police more accountable To make the police people-friendly and community oriented To inculcate basic human values and ethics in the police officers
The following topics were covered by the various speakers in this seminar: Day to day policing in Police Stations as per Punjab Police Rules: Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, SSP Gurdaspur General guidelines for the Investigation of cases: Sh. Parambir Singh Parmar, SP Detective Gurdaspur Personal Conduct and Behaviour with general public: Sh. R. K. Sharma, SP Pathankot How to improve quality of investigation: Sh. Kanwaljit Singh, District Attorney Gurdaspur
Addressing the participants, SSP Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh asked the officers to improve the working of police as per guidelines given in the Punjab Police Rules and various other standing orders issued by the DGP Punjab. He also highlighted the PRO system initiated in the Police Stations of Gurdaspur to make the police more accountable towards grievances of common people. He further stressed upon the improvement in the quality of investigation to give justice to the needy persons. Sh. Jora Singh, District and Sessions judge also addressed the participants and highlighted common errors in the investigation and role of police officers in ensuring quick trial of cases pending in the courts. He also spoke on various human rights issues and role of police in protecting the rights of commoners at the root level. Sh. Vivek Pratap Singh, Deputy Commissioner also addressed the participants and spoke on the role being performed by the police in the changing scenario. He stressed upon providing quick justice to the aggrieved persons and further highlighted the need for better coordination between various functionaries of criminal justice system. These officers were given posting as per their choice keeping in view their potential and aptitude. This entire programme was organized with the aim to deliver good results for the common people for the redressal of their grievances.
