NASHIK: State director-general of police (DGP) Rajnish Seth has asked the city police to assess whether the closed police chowkies need to be reopened and take appropriate decision.
Seth had a meeting with top city police officials during his visit to Nashik on Friday against the backdrop of the passing out parade of new PSI officers trained at the Maharashtra Police Academy.
In Nashik, there are close to 70 police chowkies. The city police had shut down some of them after it came to light that they were set up without the approval from the office of the DGP.
Seth has instructed the deputy commissioners of police (Zones 1 and 2) to reassess the need of the police chowkies in their respective jurisdictions and take decisions accordingly.
Generally, the police chowkies serve as the first point of contact for citizens to raise any concern and also to provide a sense of security brought on by the presence of men in uniform. The chowkies are smaller police units that cover a smaller part of the city and the personnel usually know the lay of the land.
Thus, if the police assess that a chowky that had been closed down should be opened for better patrolling and security in the area, the police chowky could be re-opened.
In March this year, some residents had caught a few policemen consuming liquor at a police chowki in Gangapur Road area. Former police commissioner of Nashik Deepak Pandey had then said that the police chowky was illegal, meaning it was set up without the necessary permissions. He had said that there were many such police chowkies that were set up without necessary permission. Thereafter, a few police chowkies were closed down.
DGP Rajnish Seth, during his visit to Nashik on Friday, also took a review of the crime scenario of the city and issued instructions to the officers. Apart from this, he also appreciated the work of the city police with respect to various measures that are being taken for improving the vehicular traffic of the city and to bring down the rate of road accidents.
He also visited the police control room and took information about its functioning.
