KCR, DGP Give Their Nod for Telangana Police Logo

Honour, duty and compassion will denote a unique identity for the bravery and impeccable sincerity of the Telangana police. A logo for the police force designed by Laxman Alley, a popular artist, was approved by the chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and incharge DGP Anurag Sharma. Laxman, who had already designed the Telangana state logo, had a tough time designing the logo amid stiff competition. The Telangana police received as many as 2,000 logos of which Laxman’s was finalised. “It was a very tough time for me to design the logo. I am sure the symbol will portray the bravery and sincerity that the force shows in maintaining the law and order and protecting people’s rights. the logo has the shape of a shield that evidently represents a warrior’s first line of defence. It also accentuates positive energy in action, understanding emotions of citizens, strong will power to make decisions and enables a conducive environment for a peaceful life for citizens,” Laxman told Express. The logo, with four colours, adds boost to the Telangana police. The word ‘Police’ in red vibrantly conveys that the police is in support of enabling citizens with wholesome protection round-the-clock. Black denotes qualities like straight forwardness, authority and power. Blue represents objectives of the police like peace, tranquility, harmony, order, loyalty, cleanliness and confidence while gold symbolises unique traits like success, achievement, triumph, prosperity, quality, prestige, sophistication, value and elegance, Laxman explained. The four Asiatic lions, standing with their back together, with the adage ‘Satyameva Jayate’ signify power, courage, pride and confidence. The logo also includes three essential principles -- honour, duty and compassion -- with the Telangana police intends to operate and offer its support to the citizens. The nested leaves symbolise the noble intention of creating lasting relationships. Overall, the insignia personifies the shared vision of instilling a feeling of security, confidence and peace among citizens of the state.  “When I showed the logo to the chief minister, I explained the importance of the design, colours and symbols. It is the second logo I have designed for Telangana and its police after the formation of the state,” Laxman said. Laxman is a popular artist hailing from Kadirenigudem, a nondescript village in Atmakur mandal of Nalgonda district. The 49-year-old artist is studying ‘Nakashi’ paintings and Dalit Bahujan performative art forms in his PhD at EFLU.
WHAT IT MEANS: Laxman Alley’s design is among 2K other entries; He is architect of govt’s logo too ‘Police’ in red vibrantly conveys police support of enabling citizens with wholesome protection. Black denotes qualities like straight forwardness, authority and power. Blue represents objectives like peace, tranquility, harmony, order, loyalty, cleanliness and confidence. Gold symbolises success, achievement, triumph, prosperity, quality, prestige, sophistication, value and elegance. The logo includes 3 essential principles — honour, duty and compassion — with which police intends to operate. Four Asiatic lions with the adage ‘Satyameva Jayate’ signify power, courage, pride and confidence. Nested leaves symbolise intention of creating lasting relationships. Insignia personifies shared vision of instilling security, confidence and peace among citizens.

By Moule Mareedu
moulimareedu@gmail.com

Govt to Introduce Shift System for Cops Soon

In yet another good news for policemen in Telangana, the government has decided to introduce shift system in the department shortly bringing down the working hours to eight per day. Officials are still giving finishing touches as they have to take the law and order situations while drafting the final proposal. Highly placed sources told Express that the shift system initially implemented in Hyderabad. Telangana incharge Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag Sharma is learnt to have directed the city police to discuss with officials how to implement the new system in the city. The system is already being enforced in some police stations in the Hyderabad Traffic wing. The city police commissionerate attaches three additional commissioners of police, four joint commissioners, 12 deputy commissioners, 19 additional deputy commissioners, 51 assistant commissioners, 278 inspectors, 848 sub-inspectors, 736 assistant sub-inspectors; 1,989 head constables and 8,150 constables in various wings. "We will take measures to improve the shift system that is already being implemented in some traffic police stations while introducing it in all law and order police stations in a phased manner to reduce the burden on policemen. As per the system, a cop will work only eight hours a day and in case of emergencies, officials may order relievers to take duties," a senior police official said. The shifts will be categorised as A,B and night and each shift will share staff from the total strength of the police station. For example, in a police station that houses 60 policemen, 20 policemen each will be designated to each category. Police officials are likely to take suggestions from retired DGPs on the issue. Retired DGP Kamal Kumar, who represented the country in various international conferences on police and internal security during his tenure, has prepared a comprehensive project on the police system and shift duties for policemen. Officials are likely to implement Kamal Kumar's report while introducing the shift system in Hyderabad and other districts of Telangana. When Express contacted Kamal Kumar, he said the project was ready and he will submit it to the Union ministry shortly.

Who is Kamal Kumar? Kamal Kumar held numerous positions in the Andhra Pradesh police services between 1972-78. He worked with the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for 13 years (1978-1990) in Delhi and Arunachal Pradesh. In addition to these credentials, Kumar has held senior positions like DIG (intelligence), IG (training), IG (armed police), IG (computerisation) and additional DGP (coordination and police reforms). Before retiring from service, Kumar served as the director of the National Police Academy.  Currently, he is a member of the Task Force on national security and criminal justice, commission on centre-state relations and the honorary advisor of the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI). 

By Moule Mareedu 

WhatsApp Aided Arzzu in Endeavour

Syed Sajid alias Arzzu Bhai (30), the gold smuggling kingpin in, guided his ‘trained passengers’ to illegally carry gold with high-end technology. Arzzu monitored the smuggling by sending photographs of his proteges to staff of an airline agency through the mobile application WhatsApp to avoid customs checks at the airport.

The trained passengers met porters who helped them shift the gold from the runway to the exit gate. For this, Arzzu offered an attractive commission to the outsourced staff of the airline agency. Arzzu’s close aide Ali Bin Sayeed alias Fahad, who was arrested by the customs officials and is presently lodged in the Chanchalguda jail, hatched plans for the smuggling. Arzzu, who was arrested by the Task Force Police, is reported to have confessed to his crime and also to paying `20,000 each to the airline agency staff to help him with the smuggling. “Arzzu smuggled gold with the help of Mohd Farooq and Praveen Kumar -- both wheelchair assistants. After the passengers deplaned, Farooq and Praveen received the gold at the runway and hid it in the wheelchair and took it to the exit gate without being trapped in customs checks,” Task Force additional deputy commissioner B Limba Reddy said. Before the designated flight landed, Arzzu sent photographs of his trainees, who possessed the gold, to Farooq and Praveen.He was involved in the smuggling of gold from Dubai, Singapore and  Malaysia into the city for the past two and half months. During his stint, Arzzu had successfully managed to smuggle 15 kg of gold with the help of his trainees. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials will file a petition before the court seeking custody of the kingpin. The Central Excise and Custom officials are likely to take Arzzu into custody for questioning.

By Moule Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com

City Tailor Found to be Kingpin Behind Gold Smuggling Racket

A city-based tailor has turned out to be the main operator as well as chief trainer for many men and women who smuggle gold from other countries into the city through the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA). Interestingly, it is mostly women who have been trained to do the job. Highly placed sources told Express that the key operator has been identified as Arzzu Bhai, a tailor in Barkas of the Old City area. With gold smuggling cases at the RGIA rising, the Customs and Central Excise officials had formed special teams and took up thorough investigation. During the course of their probe, the officials recently questioned more than eight passengers after detaining them for possession of large quantities of gold. They reportedly spilled the beans about Arzzu Bhai. In the guise of tailoring, Arzzu has trained more than 60 persons to smuggle gold into RGIA from Dubai, Sharjah, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries. He also offered them huge incentives and commissions. Based on the confession statements of the detained passengers, a special team of excise and customs officials conducted raids on Arzzu’s residence in Barkas. He, however, was alerted by his associates and managed to give the police a slip. “Though Arzzu Bhai escaped, we found a diary, some books and a laptop in which he had stored important data of Dubai, Singapore and Malaysia-based jewellery shops, businessmen and some notorious smuggling gangs. We also found names of some local businessmen,” customs officials who are closely associated with the investigation told Express. Officials, however, refused to reveal the names of the local businessmen. Officials also discovered that Arzzu imparted training via power-point presentations on a small screen with a projector. The detained passengers disclosed that they were offered a commission of `5 lakh per kg of gold smuggled into the city and other parts of the country. Arrzu chooses illiterate persons and trains them in the methods of carrying gold without being detected during security checks by hiding it in safe places and even argue with officials if detained. According to officials, an Indian passenger who has been living abroad for over a year is allowed to bring jewellery in his bonafide luggage free of duty. The limit is `50,000 worth of gold for males and `1 lakh for females.

By Moule Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com