In the wake of the murder of an elderly couple inside their Coles Road residence on Sunday, the city police are looking at ways to ensure the safety of senior citizens, especially those who live alone without the support of family members. Bengaluru may be an IT and start-up hub, but it also wears the tag of pensioners’ paradise proudly, and the police would like to keep it that way.
Additional Commissioner P. Harishekaran said that the jurisdictional police will be asked to collect the details of senior citizens in their respective beat and monitor them to ensure their overall safety. As per the plan, beat constables will also monitor staff and handymen employed by senior citizens. The elderly couple in Coles Road were allegedly murdered by an electrician.
Satish Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) said that this programme is already in place in many areas under his jurisdiction.
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“We have a database in this regard and the jurisdictional police officers have been instructed to be more focused on such areas,” he said. At the same time, the police cannot infringe on the privacy of citizens, and officials are apprehensive whether people will welcome these measures. When a survey was initially conducted four years ago, several residential welfare associations raised objections citing that the safeguards were intrusive.
At the time, senior police officers had said that they had received many complaints against the jurisdictional police.
“However this time, we are doing it more professionally. We will keep a watch from a safe distance without intruding on their privacy,” said a senior police officer who had conducted the survey four years ago.
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(Reporting by
Imran Gowhar)