GOVERNMENT SEEKS DETAILS OF COPS USING BICYCLES, RELIEF LIKELY

PRAYAGRAJ: Police personnel pedal-patrolling and reporting to work on bicycles may soon become a thing of the past. The state government has taken cognizance of their poor condition and sought a confidential report from all districts on the number of such policemen, officials aware of the development said.

In Prayagraj alone, there are 2,195 such personnel.

According to the present rules of service, only sub-inspectors and inspectors receive an allowance for petrol to ride a motorcycle, while this facility is not available to constables. Constables continue to deliver their duties on bicycles and are given an allowance for it despite the fact that moving long distances on bicycles, catching criminals and reaching the crime scene on time is not possible in the circumstances.

After many incidents in which personnel failed to catch criminals, adding insult to injury were cartoons on social media platforms depicting policemen pedalling furiously after miscreants on bikes. Officials admitted that catching criminals fleeing on high-speed bikes was not possible for policemen on bicycles.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had instructed that a list be prepared of all personnel delivering their duties on bicycles. Along with other districts, the list of such constables in Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Fatehpur and Pratapgarh districts has been prepared. According to these lists, 2,195 constables use bicycles in Prayagraj, 1,268 in Fatehpur, 963 in Pratapgarh and 465 in Kaushambi. A senior police official said the list of policemen using bicycles has been forwarded to higher authorities.