Heartless Kolkata Police

Howrah walks past man struck by bus
TNN 27 October 2009, 06:11am IST

HOWRAH: So much for a city with a heart. A 30-year-old man, smashed from waist-down by a private bus, lay screaming for help at one of the busiest intersections in Howrah for 20 hours between Sunday night and Monday evening without anyone bothering to pay heed.

Thousands — including dozens of policemen — passed by without batting an eyelid. In fact, had it not been for a bus conductor, who dragged him on to the pavement, Vishal Shukla would have been just another name in the police’s list of hit-and-run victims.

This is not the first time that people have been left to die on pavements in Howrah. In 2008, two persons bled to death while police squabbled over jurisdiction.

Shukla, an educated youth from Siwan in Bihar, arrived at Howrah station on Sunday evening in search of work. Around 9 pm, he reached the Bangabasi area of Howrah Maidan, possibly in search of a hotel. This is when he was knocked down. He suffered serious injuries to his face, pelvis, arms and legs. Unable to move, he begged for help from passersby and shopkeepers but no one in the crowded area paused for a moment.

A little after 10 pm, Amit Kumar, a bus conductor on Route 71, helped Shukla on to the pavement — lest he get run over by a vehicle in the dark. “I asked an on-duty constable to help take the injured man to hospital. He wouldn’t listen. We were scared of doing it ourselves because police would have been after us,” Kumar said.

He and a few friends left some biscuits and water for Shukla and proceeded on their way. Shukla bled and suffered through the night, and all of next morning. Throughout Monday, nobody paid any heed to the injured man calling out for help. A number of police patrols passed the area but they had no time for a man in agony.

Around 4 pm, journalists caught a whiff of the incident and converged on the spot. Both locals and police quickly had a change in heart when they saw the cameras in action. Shukla — taken aback by the sudden activity — screamed in agony as he was bodily lifted, shattered legs trailing, without the help of a stretcher. He was admitted to Howrah district hospital where doctors said his injuries are severe in nature.

Howrah SP H Kusum Akar was not available for comment on Monday. Additional SP (town) Sukesh Jain defended his men, claiming that the department was not aware of the accident till Monday evening though Howrah police station is barely a kilometre from the spot. “Action was taken when we came to know about the incident,” he said. And the parting gift came from a senior police officer on duty: “Don’t worry, we’ll make arrangements to send him home when his condition improves.”

This is the city of mother Teresa.
I suppose that is why mother came to Kolkata because she knew the people were heartless here and she would find plenty of prospective sufferers on the streets.
May be it is because of the harassment good samaritans face at the hands of the police when they take any accident victims to hospital.
The police will never take the victims to hospital but if any public spirited person does so, the police find it an opportunity to earn bribes.
People avoid the police like a plague.
The police do not perform their duty and if public go to them for any help they will make the problem even more complex so that they can squeeze for money.
It is no wonder, people hate the police so much.
It will take more than just a blog http://www.kolkatacops.com/ for the police to win the confidence and cooperation of the police.
My wife and my daughter-in-law had applied for passports but the Lake Town Police have sent incomplete reports for which our passports have not yet been delivered.
We have been living in this flat for last 30 years.
My wife and daughter-in-law both have been born in Kolkata and yet they have not been issued passports for incomplete reports submitted by the police.
On the other hand if some terrorists had paid the required money, he would have received the passport at home without even having to go to the passport office.