Thaindian News

Kolkata, Dec 13 (IANS) Asking the police to be “more tactful” and avoid using batons and bullets in controlling mobs, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday asked the lawkeepers to work with a humane approach.

“Your approach should be humane. Be tactful. Mobs can be controlled without wieling batons or firing bullets,” the chief minister said at the investiture ceremony of the Kolkata Police here.

“Please show the masses that you can work well without resorting to batons and bullets,” she said.

Banerjee’s comments came days after the Dec 1 police firing in Magrahat of South Parganas district leaving two women - a teenaged school girl and a 32-year-old woman - dead after trouble broke out over illegal electric connections.

Only a couple of hours before the police function, two journalists were injured after being beaten up by police trying to prevent media persons from entering a private nursing home where a patient had allegedly jumped to his death. Later, the authorities ordered the suspension of a policeman.

Referring to the suspension slapped on the erring policeman, the chief minister also asked journalists to think over how they would cover incidents like the AMRI Hospital fire or the nursing home death. “Now there are a large number of journalists covering an event. Very often there are 200-300 journalists, photographers, television cameramen at a place. Earlier there used to be three-four media persons.”

“Now in a hospital, there are many serious patients. If so many people enter at the same time, these patients’ condition may be affected. Same thing in case of fire. There also, the rescue work may get affected.”

“So police are compelled to charge at journalists,” she said, while describing the nursing home incident as “minor”.

Banerjee also said the police and the media need each other. “There must be understanding between the two. One can’t do without the other.”