Police personnel in Mandya heaved a sigh of relief when the Mandya Zilla Raitha Hitharakshana Samiti suspended, till October 19, its string of protests against the release of Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu.
Since September 10, when the State government agreed in the Supreme Court to release water to Tamil Nadu as a “goodwill gesture”, the police have been on their toes.
According to the police, from September 10 till October 12 the district witnessed more than 1,500 demonstrations and rallies against the release of water.
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Police personnel were denied weekly offs or holidays. Even police personnel attached to stations near the Krishnaraja Sagar reservoir (KRS) near Srirangapatna were not able to avail their weekly offs.
The district has 30 police stations, apart from police outposts at Santhe Bachahalli, Ganjam, Kyathanahalli, Chinakurali, Chinya, Torekadanahalli, Bluff, Akkihebbal, Shimsha and near the Mysugar factory.
Since September 10, personnel attached to all police stations and outposts in the district had to either postpone or cancel their programmes, said a Deputy Superintendent of Police. “There are many constables who have not taken their weekly off for three weeks,” the official said.
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Praise for staff
Praising his staff for maintaining law and order during the protests, Mandya Superintendent of Police Koushalendra Kumar confirmed that the department had to cancel holidays/weekly offs during the protests.
This held true even for personnel from other districts. Besides a large posse of police personnel from Mandya, police force attached to various districts, platoons of the District Armed Reserve (DAR), the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP), one platoon each of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Rapid Action Force (RAF) were deployed during the period of the agitation.
Holidays were given only to those who had to attend marriages or funerals in their families, say police personnel.