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- INDIA
The Uttar Pradesh police have come up with a new formula to maintain law and order. An official letter has asked the state police to consult the Hindu ‘Panchang’ (Almanac) to schedule night patrolling to curb crime. Used mostly to decide auspicious dates for marriages or other celebrations, this is the first time the Panchang is to be used to aid the police to maintain law and order.
This out of the ordinary circular, dated August 14, 2023, comes from the office of Uttar Pradesh’s Director General of Police (DGP) Vijay Kumar, a 1988 batch IPS officer.
In the circular the DGP first explains the context. He asserts that criminals become more active at night when incidents of murder, loot, dacoity, burglary and crime against women are committed, having an adverse impact on the common people.
“To check such incidents the police have to become more active at night”, for which he suggests strengthening of patrolling both by foot and vehicles and more pickets.
He then reveals that an analysis of the crime data from all the districts and divisions has been done at the police headquarters which has revealed a trend that most crimes are committed in the week before and after the Amavasya (new moon night) of the Krishna Paksha as per the Hindu Panchang. He has ordered senior police officers to closely analyse this at their level every month.
Further, DGP Kumar has asked the police officers to identify the Amavasya (new moon) date of the Krishna Paksha every month and prepare accordingly. To give his team an idea he illustrated his point by stating that Amavasya falls on August 16, September 14 and October 14 this year.
The circular mentions that a copy of the Hindu Panchang has been attached with the letter dispatched to all the district police chiefs and police stations.
In the circular the DGP further directs the district police to mandatorily scrutinise the date of their respective UP 112 records (police emergency number) and the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) for entry of crime records during new moon days and full moon days and should accordingly prepare a mapping plan to tackle crime.
He ordered the Station House Officers (SHOs) to similarly follow this practice in their respective police stations.
There are a total of 1550 police stations and 406 IPS and 963 PPS officers in Uttar Pradesh who will receive a copy of the Hindu Panchang.
Commenting on this new circular of the DGP Kumar, retired Uttar Pradesh DG S. R. Darapuri said: “This is nothing novel. Only the nomenclature has been oddly changed”.
According to Darapuri this methodology is already used by the police. “The police takes into account the moonless dark nights and seasonal variations while preparing its crime mapping for crime prevention”, he said.
Retired IPS officer Vibhuti Narayan Rai also agreed with Darapuri and said that it has been a well recognised fact that crime increases during the dark Krishna Paksh days of the month. “In earlier days with virtually no electricity in the rural areas and bad roads, it was a given that dacoits struck during this period and the police force was always on high alert. Things have since improved but still the pattern of crime remains more or less the same”.
“However, what necessitated the use of the word “Hindu Panchang” in the DGP’s circular is something that raises eyebrows. As far as I know Panchangs are consulted only by Hindus”, he pointed out.
