Police chief walks home in bid to connect with the grassroots

Kumar’s unusual stroll came to light when a video went viral on social media

Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar won many hearts with his unusual style of work and a series of novel initiatives.

After using WhatsApp to communicate with his force, reprimand them over laxity on some occasions, and even to organise get-togethers with family members of police personnel at police stations, Kumar surprised everybody by walking back home from his office like an ordinary person on Thursday evening.

He interacted with ordinary folks along the way. Clad in a red shirt he walked for almost 15 kilometres in the evening rush hour without any security.

Discrete review

A single plainclothes officer shadowed him from a distance as the police chief, unnoticed by many people, observed the flow of traffic, road conditions and other problems facing pedestrians. He also spoke to a few people. His unusual stroll came to light when a video of his walk shot by somebody went viral on social media.

A few years ago, another city police commissioner, A.K. Khan, also walked for nearly 30km across the city during curfew to instill confidence among people and to personally assess the law and order situation.

On Friday, he held another interaction with Muslim women and spoke to them on how to handle any crisis situation.

The meeting held at Chadarghat in the city was part of various women friendly initiative by the city police chief. He explained to them numerous ways they can approach police or alert them about any crisis situation including Dial 100, SOS button, and various Apps of the state police.

He also told them about the purpose of the anti-harassment ‘She Teams’ force launched by Hyderabad police. The majority of participants in the programme are college students.

Since he took over as the city police chief Anjani Kumari has thrown himself into making the force proactive and friendly towards the common people as well as develop a camaraderie among them.