Posting at these units is generally awarded to the cronies of the leadership or even sometimes to those who perform well. Thus a posting to these police stations are seen as both favor and justice. A good number of officers can be found lamenting for not getting such a posting ever and for that can rightfully claim to have been meted out ´injustice´.[break]
Additional Inspector General (AIG) Kuber Singh Rana does not agree with this meaning of ´Line´. For him, ´Line´ is a term used by the Nepal Police until about a decade ago, referring to the entire police units in the capital. Equivalent to the Metropolitan Police Sector, if understood in modern context, ´Line´ was responsible for local policing barring criminal investigation. Of course, he is aware what ´Line´ stands for today.
Rana sounded tough against the ´Line´ police officers in his very first briefing a few days ago as a new Metropolitan Police Commissioner. "I would not tolerate anybody at any place if I come to know of any unsavory act," officers who took part in the meeting quoted the 51-year-old as saying. It was enough for the ´Line´ in-charges to make out what he meant and they concluded it was nothing but a serious wake-up call, an inspector in-charge of a sector office described.
As much a hardcore conformist as an efficient and professional cop, Rana does not speak up that way publicly. He is in the least a favorite pie for the media, seeking easy and populist statements and gestures.
"What I believe is if the commander does not shove his hand into dirt, his subordinates will not do either. That might even leave a similar precedent for the successors," he said. "It´s like setting oneself as an example. This is how I have been leading my units."
When plainly asked what is his take on the ´Line´, he just said:" That´s only an old-day term referring to local police units. Now, these units are either called ´Sectors´ or some of them might have been annexed into what we call ´Circles´," he said.
Rana is known not to have said anything to the press except for ´official´ stuff. Off-the-record understanding does not melt him.
Rana, who has recently been picked by the government as the next police chief through his lone promotion from the post of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) to AIG, has also been appointed the Metropolitan Police Commissioner. The uppermost posting for an AIG, in view of the intensive jurisdiction of Metropolitan Police Commissioner´s Office (MPCO), which looks after the capital valley´s 4 million-strong population and commands a force of more than 9, 000 cops, has long been usually eyed and fought at best for its financial advantage.
"I have never asked for any posting in my career and this too is not of that sort," he said, adding that there can not be any question of justice in the posting unless it is considered by a robust system as an opportunity for performance.
Revamping the capital security
A proven good hand in crime investigation and administrative management, the FBI-trained officer is now working on a broader plan and a set of strategies to restore effective security in the capital valley.
"I have been working on three major fronts: police service and proficiency, criminal investigation and internal resource management," said Rana.
"As an underdeveloped country, we have resource limitations. Yet, there is a wide scope for improvement," he said.
"Our collective aim is to do effective, professional, accountable and transparent policing," said the untainted officer with a stoic outlook, not as much gifted in elocution yet championing his way in formal but incisive diction.
"I am instructed by the government to prepare a detailed plan reviewing our current policing status and looking into what we could do under short-term and long-term projects to better secure the capital," he said.
According to Rana, the capital valley is already short of cops whereas policing in Nepal is to stay human-intensive for a long time ahead. "We need 4,000 cops more even as per the proportion set while establishing the Metropolitan Police," he said.
"Just see how fast urbanization has expanded in the valley. We are far too behind, just as wandering inside the ring-road," he added.
Another major aim Rana expects to accomplish during his tenure in the capital is institutionalizing criminal and counter intelligence, an area in which the Nepal Police has never before invested a single penny despite it being the backbone of investigation.
"I hardly believe in the fluky finding of arms during roadside checks. I want the system to work under cover against all this," he said.
To be the real commissioner
Rana admits that he is not yet the real commissioner. He says he is so far no different from the chief of the erstwhile Valley Police Office.
"I don´t have any queasy-judicial rights to exercise as a police commissioner," Rana pointed to the state´s lethargy in not truly materializing the decade-old Metropolitan Police concept.
A long-drawn battle is going on between the civil bureaucracy and the police as to whether or not to materialize the Metropolitan Police concept. "We think we need to start discussions about this concept anew because it´s an internationally applied approach," he said.
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