District Police Felicitate IGP and SP

District Police Felicitate IGP Amrit Paul and SP Dr Sharanappa

Mangaluru: A felicitation programme for outgoing police officers was held at Hotel Ocean Pearl here, on May 22.

The programme began with the SP of Udupi Annamalai welcoming the gathering. Inspector General of Police Amrit Paul and his wife were felicitated by police commissioner Chandra Sekhar with a shawl, fruits, memento, and citation. The Udupi police team also felicitated Amrit Paul and his wife on the occasion.

SP of Dakshina Kannada Dr Sharanappa and his wife were also felicitated by the police commissioner Chandra Sekhar and other officers.

Addressing the gathering, Chandra Sekhar said that a transfer is expected after every police officer has served their term. “I’ve known IGP Amrit Paul since I landed in this cadre. I came to Karnataka in 2009, and since the first day I’ve known him to be a very kind and knowledgeable officer. As IG of the Western Range, he has distinguished himself and ensured that things go smoothly and has added value to the system.”

Speaking about the outgoing SP Dr Sharanappa, Chandra Sekhar said that Dr Sharanappa was one of the finest officers that he has seen in the SP rank. “It has been a pleasure working with him. He is an extremely polite and the best public friendly police officer. He had the best information network here. The hottest fire makes the finest steel; it is good that Sharanappa has passed the test with flying colors.”

SP Annamalai speaking on the occasion said that as an IGP, Amrit Paul never used any harsh words to any police officer. “He knows where to start and how to handle any kind of case. Amrit Paul is full of knowledge because he has the habit of reading books and the thirst for learning. He is still reading books and gaining knowledge even after 21 years of his service. SP Dr Sharanappa is the topper in college and after joining the police force, he was training junior officers. He is a fine gentleman, a wonderful person full of humanity. He has very good public contacts; he listens to everyone patiently and finds solutions for their problems. We will surely miss IGP Amrit Paul and Dr Sharanappa.”

Delivering his felicitation address, Dr Sharanppa shared his journey to Mangaluru. “After arriving here, the first three months were really tough and they taught me why Mangaluru is called a sensitive area. I had good support from the then commissioner Hitendera sir. But the real change in the way that we worked and approached problems started when Amrit Paul arrived as IGP of Western Range. We moved on from a defensive to an aggressive and more professional approach. He always told that the price for committing a crime should be heavy, and that really worked out for this area.”

“Working in DK district has been a good experience for me. When there was a High Court order to suspend me, people stood by me. Justice will always prevail, but sometimes the cost of justice may be very heavy – either monetary or the damage it does to one’s reputation. There are many good people here and they’ll stand by you in tough times. I challenged the High Court order in the Supreme Court and many people stood by me then; the government also helped by providing lawyers fees. When I went to the Supreme Court, the judges of the SC took less than 5 seconds to issue a stay of the High Court order. During the next hearing, in ten minutes they quashed the High Court order. But the cost of this ordeal was really heavy.” He requested the media to look at information closely before putting anything in print or on TV, as this issue had a big cost to him.

“Many lives depend on each one of us. Each officer, irrespective of our ranks, has a family and such accusations have an impact on them. But nothing is permanent, either the good times or the bad; so never worry. As Paul sir always says, ‘Never be party to the incident; you should always be a master of the incident and not get attached to it’. Crime happens. The police are responsible for preventing or solve crimes, but you cannot always prevent them. We should try our best to do justice to the society and to our jobs,” he added.

Addressing the gathering, IGP Amrit Paul said, “Transfer is a painful moment but it is necessary otherwise officers don’t go to other places. When you get a transfer, you will learn many things. You have to work at different places, you have to understand things. Learning comes only when you face different challenges. Bidar is totally different from Mangaluru, so is Bellary and Karwar and all these places are different from Mysuru. If you do not go to these places and work there, you will not be a complete police officer. Certain sections of the IPC which you need in Mangaluru, will not be needed anywhere else. If you need to know all the sections, you have to work in Mangaluru.”

He further said, “We should go happily and for that to happen, you have to complete your tenure properly. We don’t need to be judged by anyone but we need to think whether we are satisfied with the job that we have done. When you work as a police officer, you have to take care of your family too. As we grow in service, we have to look at larger issues and find solutions to bigger problems.”

He also applauded the service of SP Dr Sharanappa and SP of Udupi Annamalai and said that these two officers are the best police officers in Karnataka. He thanked all the police officers for co-operating with him during his tenure.

CEO ZP Sreevidya and other police officers also spoke on the occasion.

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