police

"My friend lost his life ten years ago due to bike racing on the roads in Chennai. Another friend suffered multiple fractures. I do not condone bike racing ever. It is the most reckless thing to do when you are young," says Vishnu*, who once used to race bikes on the roads in Chennai but has since given up the pursuit. Street racing is especially of concern in a city like Chennai as it has had the highest number of road accidents in India among all the metros, as per 2021 NCRB records. A major cause of road accidents is overspeeding, according…

Kumar*, a food delivery gig worker rode back home after midnight on his scooter a few weeks back. Suddenly, a few cops stopped him on the way, captured his photo and then let him go. "Why are you taking my photo? I have my driving license and other documents, and I am also wearing my helmet," he asked them, flabbergasted and confused. But they did not respond. Little did he know that the Chennai police might have used their facial recognition technology (FRT) to see if his photo matched that of a criminal in their database. This has been one…

Sri, a youngster, who comes from Trichy to Chennai for an interview for a BPO job, loses his original certificates after an incident of physical assault. In order to keep the job offer, he finds himself having to arrange for copies of his certificate in a matter of days. In a similar incident, Kamali, a young graduate visits Chennai from Kotagiri in search of a job. She misplaces her bag on the train and ends up losing her academic certificates. Do these stories sound familiar to you? These incidents are from the famous Tamil movies Managaram (2017) and Kadhal Kottai…

Pullapuram has been home to around 1,000 residents for over five decades now. Now, recent developments in the area have created serious difficulties for them in accessing basic civic amenities. Developments that have arisen due to an ongoing friction with the residents of the nearby Tamil Nadu Police Housing Board Quarters. Years of peace no more Pullapuram is located adjacent to the Police Housing Board Quarters on Poonamallee High Road in Chetpet. The locality has eight streets with over 320 houses. Most of the residents here are involved in manual labour such as conservancy work with the Greater Chennai Corporation…

There are nearly 750 TASMAC outlets in Chennai district. As the sale of liquor is entirely controlled by the state, these outlets are the only vendors of alcohol for everyone across the city. A sizable portion of revenue of the state government comes from the sales made by these outlets. Even during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the limited number of shops that were opened raked in revenues in crores each day. Despite protests in various parts of the city and across the state, the state government has not kept its promise of closing down many TASMAC outlets. With…

Translated by Sandhya Raju சென்னையில் செயல்படும் வீட்டு வேலைக்கு ஆட்களை அனுப்பும் ஒரு நிறுவனத்திடம் ₹4500 செலுத்தியுள்ளார் வெட்டுவாங்கனியை சேர்ந்த அஷோக் ராஜ். பணம் செலுத்திய பிறகும், ஆள் வராததால் தொடர்ந்து நிறுவனத்தைஅழைத்தும் பலனில்லாததால், தான் ஏமாற்றப்பட்டுள்ளதை உணர்ந்தார். இதே போல் பல ஏமாற்று வேலையில் இந்நிறுவனம் ஈடுபட்டு வந்ததை அறிந்த அஷோக், தன்னைப் போல் ஏமாற்றப்பட்ட பிறரை தொடர்பு கொண்டார். அனைவரும் ஒன்றிணைந்து, அந்நிறுவனத்தின் மேல் மோசடி / மோசடி குற்றச்சாட்டுகளின் கீழ், ஜே8 நீலாங்கரை காவல் நிலையத்தில் புகார் அளித்தனர். இது ஒரு "கடுமையான குற்றம்" என்று கருத முடியாது என்பதால் புகாரை பதிவு செய்ய அதிகாரிகள் முதலில் தயங்கினர். இதனை தொடர்ந்து அடையாறு துணை காவல் ஆணையரிடம் அஷோக் புகார் அளித்தார். Justdial.com நிறுவனத்தில் பதிவு செய்திருந்த குற்றம் புரிந்த அந்நிறுவனத்தை துணை காவல் ஆணையரின் வழிக்காட்டுதலின் படி, கைது செய்தனர் நீலாங்கரை காவல் துறையினர்.…

I had been noticing a man, about 40 years of age and evidently suffering mental health issues, around my neighbourhood on Venkatraman Street in Perambur over the past few months. In May 2020 when the Covid-19 cases started spiking I approached the local administration to seek help in securing a shelter for him. The initial response from the officials in the enforcement agencies and local administration was that it would be impossible to accommodate any person with a mental illness at the mental hospital or any home for the mentally challenged during the pandemic. They asked me to wait until…

Ashok Raj, a resident of Vettuvankeni, was recently cheated of Rs 4,500 by a city-based manpower agency providing domestic househelp services. The help never turned up even after the money was paid and multiple calls made to the agency did not evoke a response. Ashok soon realised he had been cheated and came to know that the agency has been engaged in serial fraudulent activities over the past few years. He subsequently got in touch with other victims. Collectively, they visited J8 Neelankarai police station to file a case against a manpower agency under cheating/fraudulent charges.  The officials initially were…

More than 830 police personnel have tested positive for COVID-19 in Chennai. An Inspector with Mambalam Police Station succumbed to the virus recently, the first cop to have died with COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu.  From protecting individuals to taking care of guest workers in shelters, ensuring compliance with mandated norms in hospitals and public places and inspecting checkpoints, the police has had to deal with a variety of tasks on a daily basis. Well aware of their vulnerability to the infection, a total of 18,000 cops belonging to Traffic, Law and Order and crime departments have been toiling on the…

They have been among the frontline corona virus warriors since March 25th. And also among those badly hit by the virus. With Mumbai in particular showing record daily jumps in positive cases, its policemen have suffered too. Take just one day, March 26th. According to the state health department, Maharashtra had a total of 3,041 new coronavirus patients on that day, of which 1889 were police personnel (207 officers and 1682 other ranks). Also, 20 policemen have died so far from the infection. Yet, they remain on the frontlines, manning high risk spots like containment centres and railway stations. And…