Police detain army officers accused with misbehaving with a woman and then arrest them as they create a havoc in the police station. Next armed armymen arrive in 3 cars, ransack the police station, thrash policemen and free their men at gunpoint prompting others held up in the lock-up to escape. Notwithstanding the mistake on the part of the police – they didn’t inform the army before arresting two officers which is the norm – this act by the army is deplorable. The Park Street brawl has drawn media outrage and the army has begun a process of investigation and heaven knows whether the men in fatigues will be brought to book at all.
Whatever it is, what will be the police do after this? Well I don’t expect the same men who cowered before the military to turn courageous overnight. What I expect of them is to get a bit futuristic. In a police station in the heart of Kolkata, I expect CCTV cameras to be installed at every point. If it was so, we could have a real show of the army-police showdown and ‘investigation’ would have been a lot easier – I mean to say, the army would have had no option but to punish the offenders then.
