Campaign for women’s safety

Petition says number of assaults on women near Technopark is on the rise.

April 17, 2014 01:05 pm | Updated May 21, 2016 11:50 am IST

A mass petition from employees of various firms in Technopark, one of India’s largest information technology installations, voicing their concerns over the safety of women employees there, has set the police mulling over suggestions to bring Technopark and surrounding areas under the jurisdiction of the City Police.

Technopark currently falls under the limits of the Kazhakuttam police station, which is attached to the Thiruvananthapuram Rural police. The petition, initiated through an online campaign calling for steps to ensure safety of women techies and signed by over 2,000 employees, was recently submitted to Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala.

The petition said that every week at least one incident of anti-social elements harassing women was reported from the area, and many more incidents went unreported. The number of assaults on women near Technopark and nearby hostels was on the rise, the petition added and called for more police aid posts and boosting the patrolling around the region.

A senior city police official said the suggestion to bring Technopark and Kazhakuttam under the purview of the City Police was forwarded to the Home Minister. Such a move would enable more effective policing in the region and address the concerns of techies.

The ball, however, is in the government’s court as of now.

A feather in their cap A week ago one arrest had brought smiles on the faces of the city police, after quite a long time. Now, members of the Shadow Police and other personnel who were deputed to tackle the spate of chain-snatching cases in the city are grinning from ear to ear after recording another big catch on Monday.

A special team was behind the achievement that boasted the arrest of Nadir Khan alias Ernakulam Biju, a known offender who has a staggering 200 cases, including chain snatching, burglaries, vehicle thefts and murders, registered against him in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Khan was not the only big fish in that catch. Raveendran alias Pooda Ravi, known for defending himself in courts without the help of lawyers and having a registry of over 100 theft cases in his name, and Sashi alias Kavanadu Sashi, who has over 20 chain-snatching cases in his kitty, too were nabbed along with Khan.

The police said the trio was behind several of the recent chain-snatching cases in and around the city.

City Police Commissioner H. Venkatesh said a few more minor gangs remained out there to be tackled. Both the Shadow Police and the Booster Patrol would work with more focus on the chain-snatching cases now that the polls were over, he said.

One concern, however, was the increasing number of teenagers and youngsters who were getting involved in chain-snatching cases, he said, pointing out that they took it as one ‘instant solution’ for easy money.

Drug addicts too were increasingly turning to this offence, making the job more challenging for the Shadow Police and the Boosters.

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