Hyderabad, May 6 Newly-appointed Commissioner of Police of Telangana's Malkajgiri, B. Sumathi, was harassed by nearly 40 men within a few minutes as she posed as an ordinary woman on the city streets past midnight.
In a bold move, the Indian Police Service (IPS) officer stood alone on the roads in Dilsukhnagar past midnight to assess women’s safety during night hours.
Posing as an ordinary woman, Sumathi waited alone at a bus stand. According to police, within minutes, 40 men allegedly surrounded and harassed her.
Many of those who approached her were drunk, passed vulgar comments, and made advances. Police teams, which were deployed nearby, detained all of them. They were counselled and were let off after a warning.
The undercover operation by the Police Commissioner highlighted concerns over women’s safety in public places, especially during the night hours.
Malkajgiri is one of the four police commissionerates spanning Greater Hyderabad and its surroundings.
According to police, the operation was aimed at sending a strong message against harassment of women.
Sumathi was recently appointed as Malkajgiri Police Commissioner. Barely a week after taking charge as the first woman Police Commissioner, she made the bold move of posing as a decoy.
However, this wasn’t her first such field exercise. The officer of the 2006 IPS batch had conducted a similar operation as a young DSP near Kazipet railway station.
Sumathi began her career as a Group-1 DSP in 2001 and later rose through the ranks after joining the IPS.
She held multiple critical assignments across intelligence and law enforcement wings.
Before taking over as the Commissioner, she was Inspector General of Police, Special Intelligence Bureau, and earned praise for playing a key role in the surrender of several Maoists.
Sumathi, through her dialogue-based approach, is reported to have contributed to the surrender of 591 Maoists over a two-year period. She was also involved in negotiations leading to the recent surrender of senior Maoist leader Tippiri Tirupati alias Devuji.
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