'Incidents like this cannot be prevented'

Gautam Budh Nagar SSP Surya Nath Singh spoke to MiD DAY about his plans to make Noida safer, but also expressed his helplessness in curbing some forms of crime

His mission is to ensure justice, maintain law and order and control crime in Noida. Surya Nath Singh who replaced Amitabh Yash as the Senior Superintendent of Police in Gautam Budh Nagar about two weeks ago, discussed his strategy to put the fear of the law in the minds of the criminals, following Wednesday morning's shooting incident.

Are you satisfied with the law and order situation in Noida?
I think crime is under control and Noida police is doing a great job. But we still need to make certain procedures more effective.

What is your take on Wednesday's incident where a couple was shot on a busy road during peak morning hours?
Crime can happen anywhere. They could have fought in a closed room. But in this case they met on the road and after argument they entered into a brawl and later he fired his gun. Incidents like this cannot be stopped but we will do our best to keep a check.

What are the initiatives that you plan to take to make Noida a better and safer place?
We are trying to deploy police personnel at every intersection so that there is more visibility and a check on crime.u00a0 We are working aggressively to make nightlife in Noida safer.

So residents can look forward to a more cooperative police force?
I have made sure to keep a check on repeat offenders. We are maintaining records of such criminals. We make sure to register each and every case and take immediate action on them.

Noida: Past impact
March 1, 2011
Pramod Chauhan, a businessman who had managed to escape from the clutches of five people trying to abduct him on December 13, 2010, by shooting one of the abductors, was shot at and seriously injured by an unidentified assailant during morning hours at his residence in Sector 23. The needle of suspicion is on the only assailant who remained at large after the businessman bravely fought off his captors.
Chauhan, who owns a well-known handloom showroom in Sector 18, was attacked after he had returned from an engagement ceremony in the Capital.
January 5, 2009
A 24-year-old MBA student was kidnapped and allegedly raped by a group of youngsters, five of whom were arrested shortly by the police on a complaint filed by the girl's friend.
The girl was returning home with her friend in their car after shopping at Great India Palace mall in Sector 39 of Noida when the incident took place in the evening at Sector 121, police said.
All the accused were arrested within a few days. In an FIR lodged with Noida Police, the friend of the second-year MBA student, residing in South Delhi's Lajpat Nagar, claimed the motorcycle-borne youths waylaid them near a drainage line and then attacked the victim.
April 8, 2008
24-year-old Sheeba G Thomas was shot by motorcycle-borne assailants in the middle of a road in Noida's Sector 31 at around midnight.
The men allegedly dragged her out of the car she was driving before shooting her. Reports said the victim had engaged in an altercation with the accused. Thomas, who hails from Thiruvalla in Kerala, was earlier an air hostess with Virgin Atlantic.
March 18, 2008
Rakesh Kumar Anand, an employee of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) was shot dead outside his home by two men on a motorcycle. No headway in the case so far.
February 6, 2008
Ravinder Bhati, son of UP minister shot and killed three people in broad daylight. Bhati was arrested on February 29.
January 2007
Nithari serial killings were unearthed. More than 30 children had gone missing in the area since 2004, but the police failed to take notice.
November 12, 2006
Adobe CEO Naresh Gupta's son, Anant was kidnapped while waiting for his school bus. The case was solved in five days, but the main accused - Chatterapal - managed to escape from a Noida court in full public glare on February 4, 2008. He was arrested two months later.

Musical chairs
Surya Nath Singh, then Senior Superintendent of Police of Faziabad, was appointed as the SSP of Gautam Budh Nagar on February 22, 2011 in place of Amitabh Yash, who has been transferred to Lucknow as SP Railways. Singh has previously served as the SSP of Bulandshahr.
In a minor reshuffle, SP HN Singh was replaced by SP Anant Dev Tiwari. Anant was earlier serving as SP of Meerut and has served as SP city, Ghaziabad.
Apart from SP and SSP, four deputy SPs were also transferred. The action was taken after Chief Minister Mayawati visited the city on February 20 and pulled up many police officials for their failure to tackle the law and order situation in Noida.
Firing by PAC men on innocent farmers on February 21, which injured six people, added fuel to the fire and led to the transfer of police officials.