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| 'J&K cadre was God's blessing to me' | | IN CONVERSATION | | SUMIT SHARMA
Inspector General of Police Crime, J&K, SM Sahai is one of the most efficient officers in the force. In an interview to Sumit Sharma of Early Times, Sahai shares experiences of early life and the service career in J&K. Excerpts:
Please share with us something about your early life
I did my schooling from Nainital and Delhi and latter my graduation from Lucknow University. I was an art student and qualified the civil services examination while doing my post graduation.
So how was the journey in J&K
I did my basic training in Doda district, thereafter I was posted to Kathua for a very short while and most of the earlier part of service was in Kashmir, where I served in Uri, as SP City Srinagar and SSP Baramulla. After the blast in MAM Stadium in Jan.1995 I took over as SSP Jammu. After my tenure as SSP I went on deputation to Govt. Of India and was in CISF as Group Commandant Delhi and DIG Intelligence and Operations. On my return I was posted as DIG Rajouri Poonch. On my promotion I was posted as IG Crime for a few days and then became IG Kashmir on 21st May 2006 after Mr.Rajendra Kumar was injured in a fidayeen attack on the Congress rally at Srinagar. Currently I am posted as IG Crime again.
Some remarkable achievements in Police
I am in J&K police for 21 years now and I am part of one of the best police forces of the country.
I have always been fortunate to have a very good team to work with and achieving targets that were set out for me was not a difficult task. Most of my career has been spent in militancy prone areas. It is a matter of pride for me that. I have always been posted in crises situation whether it was the Stadium blast or the fidayeen attack in Srinagar or Hindu killings at Rajouri or the attack on SSP Baramulla in which two DySsP had died. In most of the places after my posting the situation has improved. In my last posting as IG Kashmir violence level came down almost 40% between 2006 and 2007 and the same was true for the year 2007 and 2008. In Rajouri Poonch also during my tenure killings of minorities had come down dramatically. In fact during that entire period there were no significant case of targeting the civilians/police. In the year 2004, there was no killing of minorities in Rajouri-Poonch. While dealing with militancy it was not that crime was ignored. Recovery position of burglary and theft cases in Kashmir valley went to 51% which is far above the National average and all sensational murder cases were solved in record time including blind murder-rape cases of minor girls at Handwara and Srinagar. I remember these cases had rocked the assembly also. In the Crime branch we are targeting organised crime specially the areas of public interest.. Recently in a raid conducted by Crime 49000 lts of K.oil was recovered from Udhampur.
Where did you get inspiration to join the police force?
I joined the police force essentially because of the inspiration given by my mother. As my mother comes from essentially a police family. My grand father was from the first batch of IP in 1907. Thereafter my uncle and my cousins also joined the IPS. My father was from the army so there was a general interest in the family to put on the uniform., I am fortunate that I lived upto the expectation of my family and particularly my mother and became an IPS officer. It is god blessing that I was given the J&K cadre and I think that J&K Police is one of the most prestigious organisations to work with.
As you have served both in Jammu regions and Kashmir Valley what difference you have observed.
Jammu and Kashmir are two very distinct regions but are held together by a common past. Over a period of time people of both the regions have intermingled through trade and other occupations. Now both the regions have been affected with similar problems of militancy . The resolve that has been shown by people of both the regions in maintaining communal and regional harmony is truely appreciable. Despite the recent attempts by some people to disturb this harmony it has sustained and after the elections the things will be back as they were earlier.
In Kashmir valley you get to see lot of handicrafts and creativity which is done by the hand. In Jammu the creativity is of a different nature. It is more inclined towards theatre, music and painting.The people of both the regions are very warm and welcoming. People of Kashmir are flamboyant and outgoing whereas people of Jammu are simple and staid. |
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