When the CBI name is mud and the Mumbai cops in for on embarrassment after another it is no wonder that a goat had come to the rescue of the Mumbai police, observes V GANGADHAR.
What has gone wrong with the once-shining name and reputation which was once considered next to the Famed Scotland Yard? Its crime list tops the national list, under trials escape from custody as and when thy pleased, hit and run is the city’s national pastime and so on The Chief Minister had to cut down the strength of his police delegation which visited Japan recently but it was of no use; there was no ‘Sayonara’ to crime, one disappointment followed another, one failure followed another! We all know that the Indrani Mukherjee case was in the bag but that was not to be. It only rendered the vocal chords of legendary TV anchor temporarily out of order but soon he bounced back into action.
But the indomitable citizens of Mumbai did not accept. It was true they were temporarily down but “OUT”, they were not! The city which produced all-time greats like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar would not take defeat lying down. The Tiger (both inside and outside ‘Matoshree’) continued to roar and the earth shook once more. The issue may have involved only a goat but so what? The prestige involved that of a tiger and the city on the eve of Ganesha reverberated with drums, bugle and human voices reached record decibel levels.
Mumbai : Ahmed Javed addresses a press conference after taking charge as Mumbai Police Commissioner in Mumbai on Tuesday. PTI Photo by Shashank Parade (PTI9_8_2015_000095B) |
For such a major event, a little bit of introduction is necessary: A man robbed a 13-year old boy of his goat in Malwani and fled. It cost Rs 21000 and the brave citizens of Malwani were not prepared to accept this theft lying down. They would rather get up and fight and restore the fighting spirit of the city. The trickery in the case was not acceptable to the people of Mumbai. As the 13-year old stood pensively a man approached and pointed out that the goat needed to be given water otherwise it would die of thirst. The infamous villain’s strategy was clear as the boy put down the goat to fetch water. When he returned neither the goat nor the man was present. Some people present jumped into an auto, followed the stolen goat and got it back thanks to a police ‘nakabandi’.
Considering the recent spate of crimes, this was a major breakthrough for the city police. Shouldn’t we expect the Mumbai cops to laud such a brave action packed with human interest and sent a clear warning to goat stealers they better be careful. Perhaps, this was brought about with the changes in the top police leadership.
Perhaps Rakesh Maria was not so good in capturing stolen goats as his successor particularly during Id time. Who knows, the new Commissioner is may be capable of many more daring acts. But with festival season fast approaching should be lot more careful in hosting and attending Navratri, Diwali celebrations, film stars related functions and the two major bashes, Christmas and New Yea parties. Merely catching goats will not be enough.
