KATHMANDU, August 1

Kathmandu police has been serving various responsibilities beyond maintaining law and order in the country.

Besides deployment in essential crime investigation, security patrolling, firefighting, and hunt for crime suspects, Metropolitan Police Range, Hanumandhoka had to mobilise cops in as many as 1,177 circumstantial incidents during the fiscal 2014-15.

Around half of them were concerned with providing security to VVIP/VIP motorcades in the capital.

“We were obliged to deploy police forces to escort the convoys of VVIP/VIPs 706 times during the period,” a police official at Kathmandu MPR said.

Vice-president Paramananda Jha has topped other VVIP/VIPs in overall inter-city travel to take part in formal programmes with 196 visits followed by   151 visits of Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and 62 visits of President Ram Baran Yadav.

Police force escorted convoys of high-level visiting foreign dignitaries 297 times. The VVIP/VIP motorcades not only gave a hard time to the police but also brought a lot of traffic misery to people. On many occasions, police had to clear the routes for more than one hour, forcing motorists to negotiate through mile-long jams.

“Escorting VVIP/VIPs to participate in various programmes around the city has usually kept us busy. The process also takes a toll on public security affairs,” said the official. More than 100 police personnel are assigned to the VVIP/VIP movement.

The security agency also worked to maintain law and order during various protests of political parties, their sister organisations, and interest groups.

Police dealt with two incidents of Nepal bandh, two Valley bandhs, 21 padlockings, two chakkajams, 65 demonstrations, 82 sit-in protests and picketing, 59 corner meetings, three torch rallies, 196 protest rallies, and 39 religious events during the period.

Former AIGP and Police Commissioner Navaraj Dhakal said that Nepal Police was obliged to provide high-level security cover to VVIP/VIPs round-the-year due to the lack of any legal provision to categorise their security and risk level.

“We do not even have a special body like National Security Guard or Special Protection Group as in India which categorises security levels (Z+, Z, Y and X) of VVIP/VIPs and mobilises the police force accordingly. With a phone call from leaders of political parties, Nepal Police provides the VVIP/VIPs with cops,” he informed.

“Such practice makes police personnel disoriented. It is high time the government framed a policy to analyse and update security threats to VVIP/VIPs from time to time,” Dhakal said.

He warned that such tendency was likely to create a security vacuum and invite disastrous consequences. The need of security cover for VVIP/VIPs without risk assessment has badly hampered the already deteriorated police-people relations in the metropolitan city.