Amid coronavirus crisis and spike in crime, it's catch-22 for police

In almost every meeting with the brass of his force, the police chief had been reiterating the need to curb crimes

Sanitised tourism

It seems like attracting tourists is Step No 1 as states ease lockdown measures in a phased manner. The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to reopen National Parks this week for domestic travellers; Rajasthan has reopened tourist destinations for domestic visitors, while Uttarakhand allowed limited destinations for tourists in the state’s green zones. Other states, including Karnataka, Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh, are also taking steps to reopen the doors for domestic tourists. The sector had come to a standstill after lockdown was enforced. As expected, these states are going all out to assure prospective visitors that tourist locations would be sanitised in the way protocol demands. 

Virus catch-22

A priority for Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava is controlling street crime as many fear it might spike. In almost every meeting with the brass of his force, the police chief had been reiterating the need to do so with a firm hand and had been pulling up officers if the number of crimes went up. But the challenge for those at the receiving end, the field staff, is different. They want focus to be on preventing “major incidents” for now as better patrolling will only lead to more exposure to the coronavirus. Some complaining officers pointed at a recent episode where one of the five men arrested for allegedly robbing and assaulting a private airline pilot in southwest Delhi had tested positive for Covid-19, sending around 10 policemen who came into contact with the accused to quarantine.

Credit war 

With bypolls to 24 seats in Madhya Pradesh approaching, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are jockeying to take credit for the Gwalior-Chambal Expressway. The development project is important because it affects most of the Assembly seats where the by-elections will be held. Nitin Gadkari, Union minister of road transport and highways, said at a virtual rally recently that if the MP government completed 80 per cent land acquisition in three months, he would invite the prime minister to lay the foundation stone for the project. Sensing an opportunity, the Congress immediately claimed that land acquisition for the project was initiated by the Kamal Nath-led government and that the BJP was trying to claim credit for its hard work.