In order to put a check on cases of crime against women, the Kolkata Police has launched ‘The Winners’ – an all-woman patrolling team to fight verbal and physical assault on the streets of the city.
On Wednesday, the first group of the team was officially flagged off from Lalbazar, the Kolkata Police headquarters, by the commissioner of Kolkata Police Rajeev Kumar.
They had undergone rigorous training since March this year at the Kolkata Police Training Centre. “The first team comprises 25 members. They have been specially trained and will patrol areas like bus stops, shopping malls, colleges and schools at strategic locations of the city to control eve-teasing and molestation. They have been trained to use lethal and non-lethal weapons,” said Meeraj Khalid, deputy commissioner (south) of Kolkata Police.
Two members of ‘The Winners’ team would be on a Scooty and would be doing the rounds. They would be stationed at Lal Bazar and at other specific police stations from where they can reach the scene of crime within minutes, especially at night and at deserted areas of the city where women feel unsafe travelling. Just like officials of the traffic police department, members of ‘The Winners’ will have a body camera on them for proper documentation of incidents.
“It is a pilot basis launch. Looking at the performance and result, as and when required the number would be raised. They will be used primarily for two reasons. To act as a deterrent for potential offenders and to immediately intervene in case there is an incident,” said Aparajita Rai, ADCP (south), of Kolkata Police.
