Bengaluru City Police

Karnataka government has imposed curbs in Bengaluru and some other parts of the state, under Section 144 of the CrPC. The government move came amidst widespread protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Registry of Citizens (NRC). Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao said yesterday that those who violate Section 144 would be booked. But what do our laws say about protests? If you want to hold a protest, what rights do you have and what permissions do you need to take? Do citizens have the right to protest? The word ‘protest’ is not explicitly mentioned in the…

Many stakeholders have been involved in the introduction of bus priority lanes in Bengaluru - BMTC, BBMP, DULT, Bengaluru City Police, among others. The project also put the advantages of public transport at the centre of public discourse once again. However, an important aspect that plays on our mind about public transport is our personal safety. Women especially, are always at the bottom of the ladder when it comes to safety. We sat down for a chat with Bhaskar Rao, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru city, on measures to improve safety in public transport. In his candid style, Rao spoke at…

You’ve probably heard about BMTC’s 'bus priority lane' pilot project in ORR (Outer Ring Road) by now. Officials are working full-time to set up infrastructure for the project, and are conducting test runs. Speaking to Citizen Matters, KR Puram Traffic Police Inspector Lokesha says they have been asked to deploy police personnel to ensure only buses ply in the priority lanes. "BMTC will gives us details after the pilot runs are completed. We will then deploy personnel depending on the number and frequency of buses," he says. Here are some quick details about this pilot : Starting November 1st, the…

Govt considers zonal committees in B'luru State government is considering promoting zonal meetings at BBMP, to further decentralise the powers of BBMP Commissioner. The zonal committee will involve special commissioners, engineer-in-chief, ward officials, officials from all civic agencies, MLAs, nominated representatives from citizen groups, and ward committee members of the respective zones. As per a draft brought out by the government, the committee should clear proposals and works in the zone, before these are sent to the BBMP Council for approval. The draft also recommends including the committees in finalising the zonal budget for 2020. As per a recent government…

Two days ago, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao tweeted that the number of traffic wardens in the city would be increased from 390 to 2500. He requested citizens to get in touch with their nearest traffic police stations to apply to be a warden. Traffic wardens are volunteers from diverse backgrounds who support the police in traffic management, especially as the city’s increasing vehicle numbers have put pressure on the latter. The wardens are part of the Traffic Warden Organisation (TWO) of Bengaluru City Police. Traffic wardens need to be on duty only 16 hours a month, but can do…

As the revised fines for traffic offences has come into effect, the Bangalore Traffic Police (BTP) has geared up for strict enforcement. If the BTP follows its current pattern of booking offences, what kind of offences would it fine the most, and how much would the department make? Previous years' data shows that the highest number of cases are booked for just two categories - 'rider without helmet' and 'pillion rider without helmet' - out of 39 categories of violations overall. This year, till August 31st, BTP booked over 14 lakh cases for driving without helmet, and another 10 lakh…

As Bengaluru prepares for the Lok Sabha polls less than three weeks away, the police have launched yet another drive to “document” residents living in apartment complexes across the city. As per directions sent out by Bengaluru City Police (BCP), apartment owners' associations have been asked to provide full details of their residents and safety and surveillance assets, as part of the police’s 'Preventive Security Measures'. A similar ‘police verification of tenants' exercise had been initiated in 2008 by the then-Bengaluru police commissioner Shankar Bidari under the ‘Safe Bangalore’ scheme. The only difference between then and now is that unlike…

H1N1 cases spurt in February Since January, 603 positive cases of H1N1 have been reported in Karnataka, according to the State Health and Family Welfare Department. Of these, the highest number of cases, 141, were from BBMP limits. Reported cases shot up suddenly in February - cases almost doubled from 49 in the last week of January, to 91 in the first week of February. Overall, 400 people tested positive in the state in February alone, of whom 14 have succumbed to the infection. Bengaluru Urban District Surveillance Officer, T K Sunanda, said at a press conference, that areas such…

Bandh gets good response: The statewide bandh on January 25 was fairly successful and mostly peaceful, as it got a good response from diverse organisations. In the attempt to reach a resolution for the Mahadayi row between Karnataka and Goa, the bandh got BMTC and KSRTC buses to stay off roads, with shops remaining shut. However, Metro services remained unaffected, while taxis and autos too were plying on the roads. Though it was fairly peaceful, the protest also witnessed some stray stone-pelters. There were more than 15,000 police personnel, along with 50 platoons of KSRP and CAR police persons who…

Google to help Bengaluru police manage traffic better: "A team of officials from Google and the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) are developing a custom-made ‘Traffic analyser app’ for the traffic police, which will help in congestion management, benefiting the general public," said R. Hitendra, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), to The Hindu. Rooftop restaurants already shutting shop: A number of rooftop pubs, bars and restaurants have complied with the orders of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to close down their establishments. They had been found operating without trade licenses. About 135 establishments had been given a week’s…