Catch a thief, win reward

Bhubaneswar (visakeo): Rattled over the increasing criminal activities in the State, the police are now seeking public cooperation to keep the spiraling crime rate under check and community policing is the new mantra for the State's cops. As part of the initiative the police on Tuesday recognised the efforts of six youth of a village who's daredevilry helped the cops in getting hold of some armed miscreants who had looted a bank's transit van and looted Rs 8 lakh at gunpoint. The youths had chased the armed miscreants and nabbed them.
The police force is saddled with maintaining law and order, providing security to VIPs and VVIPs, crime detection along with routine policing. Without adequate infrastructure and skeletal personnel it has become nearly impossible for the police to keep a check on the dreaded criminals and their nefarious activities. No one knows this better than Director General of Police Gopal Chandra Nanda. "Without public support, it's extremely thorny for the police to check the crime rate," said Nanda.
The number of policemen might be inadequate. But with community policing with the public cooperation it acts as a force multiplier. With information flowing from the public it becomes easier to keep a tab on the criminals and their activities. The awards for the youth might be negligible on monetary grounds but it would act as a moral booster for those who want to help the police, said a senior police officer.
Puri SP Asit Panigrahi on Tuesday felicitated the six youth of Bhiligram in Konark who had captured the bank dacoits on December 3, 2007. They were presented with bravery awards. The police awarded a sum of Rs 1,000 each to two youth while the other four were given a cash award of Rs 500 each. Panigrahi hoped that