30 pc of Mumbai cops protect VIPs, celebrities

[karira]

30 pc of Mumbai cops protect VIPs, celebrities

Mumbai: It's a city where policemen are finding reducing support at their work place with every passing day. And with court appointments and unlimited check posts taking most of their time providing security to VIPs is just adding to the long list of woes of the understaffed Mumbai Police.

For a city, which has a population of more than a crore, its 41,914 policemen find themselves totally outnumbered.

A RTI application filed by activist Chetan Kothari to know the state of the force, has given some damning figures.

Nearly 30 per cent of the entire Mumbai police force find themselves providing protection to celebrities and VIPs resulting in Policemen being over worked and More than 900 of them losing their lives at work in the last five years.

Activists say Mumbai Police's priority has surely changed.

"VIPs use the police force like use and throw material. Even those who do not want it use it as a status symbol,” says RTI activist, Chetan Kothari.

While there are some who have genuine security issues, for many like filmstars and cricketers it is just a window to show off their power.

The police well for once do not want to disagree.

"Unfortunately, since this is a responsibility given to us we have to give them the requisite security,” says DGP, Maharashtra Police, Dr P S Pasricha.

With demands for police protection increasing with each passing day, life for Mumbai Police is just going to get tougher in the long run.

30 pc of Mumbai cops protect VIPs, celebrities - Yahoo! India News