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In one fell swoop, more than 80 orderlies assigned to influential politicians and bureaucrats have been withdrawn and posted on election duty

Cometh the hour, cometh the woman. What no one — not the state police chief, city police commissioner, chief minister or home minister —dared to do for 20 years, a woman IPS officer managed to do over three days during a brief stint as head of the City Armed Reserve (CAR). D Roopa, a 2000 batch officer, has managed to withdraw about 80 policemen posted as orderlies to VVIPs including former chief ministers BS Yeddyurappa, Sadananda Gowda and Katta Subramanya Naidu.

 
The issue of policemen assigned as gunmen, guards or orderlies to politicians, police officers and bureaucrats has been a contentious one as many of these policemen were found to be performing chores and menial tasks for those they were assigned to guard. Some of them, such as Naveen OC who had been assigned as a gunman to MLA KC Kondayya, have been working as orderlies or gunmen for decades.
 
Police officers over the years had refused to address the problem, especially since politicians deemed having orderlies around them a sign of their power. But Roopa, who was transferred from Yadgir to deputy commissioner of police, CAR, decided to tackle the problem head-on.
 
Soon after she took charge this year, she drew up a list of the number of policemen assigned as orderlies to politicians for prolonged periods. She floated the idea of withdrawing these men with her seniors, but she allegedly found little support. However, undeterred, she pressed on and eventually succeeded. The 80 policemen, mostly constables and head constables, who have been withdrawn, have now been assigned assembly election duty. The whole process was completed in three days — from April 11to April 13 and in consultation with the city police commissioner.
 
Roopa was moved out of CAR a couple of days after these transfers were effected. Unsurprisingly, as among the orderlies withdrawn were gunmen attached to Katta Naidu, a gunman posted to protect former minister PGR Sindhia since 1994 and two guards assigned to Congress leader Motamma in 1996. The unauthorised pilot vehicles assigned to Yeddyurappa and Sadananda Gowda were also withdrawn as were escorts assigned to Yeddyurappa’s MLA son, B Y Raghavendra.
 
The list also included gunmen or guards assigned to former ministers C P Yogeshwar, Putta Swamy, Anand Asnotikar, Anand Singh, Krishnaiah Shetty, Umesh Katti, Raju Gowda, V Somanna, Ramachandra Gowda, Karunakar Reddy, Anil Lad among others and bureaucrats including a gunman posted to Vishala Eshwar, former chairperson, KEB, since 1994.
 
“What she has done is wonderful,” a retired DGP said. “What others refused to do for years, has managed. Policemen ought to be policing, not doing personal chores for politicians. She has shown what real policing is.”