Will deal with cops’ attackers: DGP Satish Mathur

Maharashtra’s DGP Satish Mathur on Wednesday condemned the flurry of attacks on on-duty police personnel across the city and state and warned that the department would deal with such illegal and unwarranted conduct sternly and that those responsible would be punished as per the law. Mr Mathur warned sections of the youth that such acts might take away a good 10 to 15 years of their life and advised them to refrain from taking the law into their hands in the heat of the moment.

Mr Mathur was addressing a press meet which he said had been organised in wake of Tuesday night’s incident in Kalyan where four local youths allegedly assaulted and attempted to drown a police sub-inspector on duty at a Ganesh immersion point.

“Policemen help citizens 24/7 and they do that, often keeping their own problems aside. When one or two traffic policemen deal with one lakh commuters on their own, it should be understood that they are carrying out duty on behalf of the society and society needs to cooperate with them. Policemen might give certain instructions on the spot and if you don’t like them, you have several avenues of protesting. You can approach any of the senior police officers through mediums including social media. There is no need to attack policemen,” said Mr Mathur.

“I want to tell the youth that a major portion of your life lies ahead of you. If you break the law, your passport will be seized and you may have trouble getting a job since we are not going to take anti-social conduct lightly. Ten to fifteen years of your prime could get wasted once there is a police case against you,” he said. “The department will deal sternly with unlawful conduct including attacks on policemen and will follow the case till the accused gets punished by court,” he added.

Mr Mathur stressed that state chief minister had asked the police to deal sternly with all such cases and there was no “political pressure” on the department in its working.