Police Commissioner R.K. Meena has passed orders to reshuffle the Shakthi women police teams with senior personnel with immediate effect.
Women police constables and other staff who were working with the Shakthi team will be sent back to police stations, from where they have been deputed about three months ago.
There are speculations that the Shakthi teams will be completely disbanded. Clearing the air, Mr. Meena said that they are not discontinuing the women police force.
“Of 35 women police working in Shakthi teams in the city, 28 personnel are still in probation period. They lack the basic training and experience of working in police stations. For regularisation from the probation period, police station work experience is mandatory. So the present team is being replaced with senior women police team,” he said. The Police Commissioner also said that at present, they are on the job of identifying senior women police personnel in the city to redraft them into the Shakthi team.
Mr. Meena said that unlike regular patrolling or counselling programmes at schools, colleges, the Shakthi teams will be given task-oriented jobs like nabbing eve-teasers at temples, bus stops etc.
‘Shakthi’ teams were launched in the city on April 26, to check crimes against women such as eve-teasing, molestation, bigamy, fraudulent marriage, adultery and workplace harassment among others. The 35-member ‘Shakthi’ teams comprising woman ASIs, head constables, police constables and home guards were provided with two-wheelers and four-wheelers with GPS tracking facility.
‘Video effect?’
According to a police sources, TikTok videos of a few Shakthi women police with uniform, which went viral a few days ago, may have led to this immediate consequences.
It was learnt that senior police officials, including Director General of Police, were unhappy over the incident, which might have led the city police chief to take the steps.
