Gandhigiri against police inaction

BHOPAL - Frustrated over police inaction in a two-year-old theft case, a complainant took to Gandhigiri to lodge his protest! He cut a cake, in the shape of letters F.I.R, on the premises of MP Nagar police station here to mark the second anniversary of the complaint.

“The equipment stolen from Navjeevan Press of the National Herald group included a machine gifted by Mahatma Gandhi in 1948. The case was registered in January 2008 but neither the machines worth Rs.2 crore were recovered, nor were the accused arrested,” said Irshad, one of the complainants who cut the cake.

Irshad, who was associated with a Hindi daily Dainik Navjivan, which stopped publication in 1990, said that the protest was aimed at highlighting the failure of the police in tracing the goods that were stolen two years ago.

“The aim was to wake up the policemen from their slumber. I wanted to inspire the police through Gandhigiri,” he said.

Irshad claims that the names of suspects and the number of the truck in which the goods were taken had also been provided to the police.

Station House Officer Kulwant Singh said: “The investigation is stuck because the truck’s ownership has changed and the driver died. Besides, it was felt that it was a case of violation of agreement.”

According to the police, after the printing was stopped, the employees of the press also lost their jobs and had hoped that their wages would be settled by selling the machinery. But when the machines were stolen, the employees’ union lodged a case.

Irshad also distributed the cake in the police station but the cops refused to accept it and assured that action would be taken soon.