The Real Dabang and A Super cop: Mr Satish Verma, IPS, Gujarat
He is a true personification of the 'Dabangg'
cop. Known for his ostentatious style of policing, an IPS officer of 1986
batch, Satish Verma, who came in lime light first time for clearing the mafias
and ‘gundaraj’ in Porbandar.
Satish Verma who basically belong to Bihar,
first earned a "no-nonsense" reputation in 1990 at that time he was
the deputy commissioner of police in Rajkot.
He harshly repressed the gangs which were in
operation in the Rajkot and reduced the gang war and crime in the city and
upheld the Law and order.
Within few days people started respecting him
so much that when he was leaving the Bhuj, on transfer, people lay down in
front of his vehicle.
Since people were fed up with the gunda raj
prevailing in the city and Satish Verma was definitely a hero figure for people
in city.
After this in 1994, Verma was posted as SP,
Porbandar (Mahatma Gandhi's birthplace) which had by now become a home for the
mafia. The town witnessed gang wars and contract killings regularly. Immediatley
after taking charge Verma started breaking up operative criminal gangs of
Porbandar.
And when he when arrested the then mafia don
Bhura Munja he became a Super cop in
public eye since touching the Munja was unimaginable even for police. Very soon
after Verma took charge the underworld of Porbandar was broken and golden era
of organized crime was over.
Verma used to beat up criminals & local goondas
in front of his juniors and public to send a message that only law will prevail
and not any mafia raj.
Year 2003 Mr Verma was then DIG (Border
Range) in Kutch. Within six months Verma was back in news. He had arrested one MLA.
In nutshell he is a Jabanz Police
Officer and Real Dabang.
The Real Hero & Brave Heart : Mr U. Sagayam IAS, Tamil Nadu
The Real Dabang and A Super cop: Mr Satish Verma, IPS, Gujarat
He is a true personification of the 'Dabangg'
cop. Known for his ostentatious style of policing, an IPS officer of 1986
batch, Satish Verma, who came in lime light first time for clearing the mafias
and ‘gundaraj’ in Porbandar.
Satish Verma who basically belong to Bihar,
first earned a "no-nonsense" reputation in 1990 at that time he was
the deputy commissioner of police in Rajkot.
He harshly repressed the gangs which were in
operation in the Rajkot and reduced the gang war and crime in the city and
upheld the Law and order.
Within few days people started respecting him
so much that when he was leaving the Bhuj, on transfer, people lay down in
front of his vehicle.
Since people were fed up with the gunda raj
prevailing in the city and Satish Verma was definitely a hero figure for people
in city.
After this in 1994, Verma was posted as SP,
Porbandar (Mahatma Gandhi's birthplace) which had by now become a home for the
mafia. The town witnessed gang wars and contract killings regularly. Immediatley
after taking charge Verma started breaking up operative criminal gangs of
Porbandar.
And when he when arrested the then mafia don
Bhura Munja he became a Super cop in
public eye since touching the Munja was unimaginable even for police. Very soon
after Verma took charge the underworld of Porbandar was broken and golden era
of organized crime was over.
Verma used to beat up criminals & local goondas
in front of his juniors and public to send a message that only law will prevail
and not any mafia raj.
Year 2003 Mr Verma was then DIG (Border
Range) in Kutch. Within six months Verma was back in news. He had arrested one MLA.
In nutshell he is a Jabanz Police
Officer and Real Dabang.
The Real Hero & Brave Heart : Mr U. Sagayam IAS, Tamil Nadu
By refusing to take bribes, the Madurai collector has
earned 19 transfers in 20 years, a modest house and bank balance and
lots of respect
Why he is a real life hero:
" He stood up against corruption not for a season. Nor is it a fad. It’s forever."
" Because his motto is "Lanjam Thavirtthu, Nenjam Namartthu’ (Reject bribes, hold your head high)."
"Because the assets of an IAS officer-couple in Madhya Pradesh were valued at Rs 360 crore. They had 25 flats in three cities. Whereas as a district collector of Namakkal, he voluntarily declared his assets: a bank balance of Rs 7,172 and a house in Madurai worth Rs 9 lakh."
"He did not have the Rs 5,000 needed for admitting her daughter to a private hospital. At that time he was deputy commissioner (excise) in Coimbatore."
"He guiding principle is “Be with the poor,”
On Two years ago, as district collector of Namakkal, he voluntarily declared his assets: a bank balance of Rs 7,172 and a house in Madurai worth Rs 9 lakh. Once, when his baby daughter, Yalini, who had breathing problems, was suddenly taken ill, he did not have the Rs 5,000 needed for admitting her to a private hospital. At that time he was deputy commissioner (excise) in Coimbatore and there were 650 liquor licences to be given out. The going bribe for each was rumoured to be Rs 10,000.
Sagayam started cleaning up Madurai the minute he landed here. The main bus terminus at Mattuthavani looked more like a bazaar, with shops all over the bus-shelters and no waiting place for passengers. Even a police outpost had been turned into a shop. The system was well-oiled with haftas to local politicians and policemen. Sagayam quickly went through the rulebook, cited the relevant clauses and cleaned up the entire area. But didn’t it hit poor shopkeepers who lost their livelihood? “A violation is a violation,” says Sagayam, “but we will help them rehabilitate.” Nageshwaran, a taxi-driver and one of Sagayam’s many fans, says, “He’s strict and hasn’t taken even ten paise in bribe during his career. He’s like the upright collectors they show in some films, a real hero with integrity.”
Sagayam’s masters degrees in social work and law come in useful in his role as an administrator. He knows the rulebooks in detail and is not afraid of using them, however powerful the opponent. No wonder then that Sagayam’s career is marked with the scars of countless battles.
When
he was in Kanchipuram as revenue officer, he took on the sand mafia,
ordering them to stop dredging sand from the Palar riverbed. Large-scale
dredging had made the area flood-prone. The mafia sent goons to
assault Sagayam, but he did not budge and would not take back the
order. He also took on a mighty soft-drink mnc when a consumer showed
him a bottle with dirt floating in it. He sealed the bottling unit and
banned the sale of the soft drink in the city. In Chennai, he locked
horns with a restaurant chain and recovered four acres valued at some
Rs 200 crore. Given such credentials, it wasn’t surprising for him to
be picked by the Election Commission to oversee elections in Madurai,
as famous for its temples as its political gods. During the last polls,
Sagayam took on M.K. Azhagiri, the local MP and son of former CM and
DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi. He conducted voter awareness campaigns in
colleges; the DMK petitioned the court twice, seeking to end what it
said was an attempt to influence voters, but the court demurred.
Sagayam’s wife Vimala has stood by him all these years but she was rattled by some of the threats during the elections. “He always says if you are right, nobody can hurt you,” she says. “But sometimes it becomes difficult.”
Sagayam takes a hands-on approach to his work. He holds a Monday ‘durbar’, at which anyone can meet him with their complaints. During tours of the district for review meetings and inspections, he will suddenly stop a school bus to talk to children or duck into a school to take a class. When students tell him they want to be IAS or IPS officers, he asks, “It’s all well to say now that you’ll be honest, but will you remain unbending about not taking bribes throughout your career?”
Some months back, while driving to a village, he found a 92-year-old woman cleaning rice. She said she had to work in order to eat. He immediately sanctioned Rs 1,000 as old-age pension for her. When 60-year-old Vellamma met him during a tour of Uthappanaikkanoor village this week and asked him to grant her a pension, he said, “I can do that. But do you want me to send your son to jail too—for abandoning you?” He said it with a smile, as a joke, but he has in fact taken action against children who don’t take care of their aging parents.
“I believe, as Mahatma Gandhi said, that India lives in her villages,” says Sagayam, who also idolises Subhash Chandra Bose. His years as a collector—he has slept overnight in village schools many times—have convinced him to better the lot of villagers by strengthening the village administrative officer (VAO) system. Many VAOs have never visited villages and often stay miles away from where they should be, in cities. In Namakkal, his action against errant VAOs had them ganging up with politicians to get him transferred. Over 5,000 villagers protested, saying they wouldn’t let Sagayam go. The politicians had to retreat.
Sagayam says he learnt honesty on his mother’s knees. He is the youngest of four sons of a farmer from Pudukottai. “Our adjoining field had mango trees and my friends and I would pick the fallen fruit,” he says. “But my mother made me throw the mangoes away, saying I should enjoy only what is mine.” Now his daughter Yalini wants to become a collector. When she has an argument with her brother Arun, she asks her father, “Is he really your son? He just told a lie!” Both of them are proud of their father. Recently, after a long time, the Sagayam family went on a vacation to Kullu in Himachal Pradesh. While visiting a gurudwara, a stranger came up to their father and asked him, “Aren’t you IAS officer Mr Sagayam?” Yalini and Arun have not stopped beaming.
Why he is a real life hero:
" He stood up against corruption not for a season. Nor is it a fad. It’s forever."
" Because his motto is "Lanjam Thavirtthu, Nenjam Namartthu’ (Reject bribes, hold your head high)."
"Because the assets of an IAS officer-couple in Madhya Pradesh were valued at Rs 360 crore. They had 25 flats in three cities. Whereas as a district collector of Namakkal, he voluntarily declared his assets: a bank balance of Rs 7,172 and a house in Madurai worth Rs 9 lakh."
"He did not have the Rs 5,000 needed for admitting her daughter to a private hospital. At that time he was deputy commissioner (excise) in Coimbatore."
"He guiding principle is “Be with the poor,”
On Two years ago, as district collector of Namakkal, he voluntarily declared his assets: a bank balance of Rs 7,172 and a house in Madurai worth Rs 9 lakh. Once, when his baby daughter, Yalini, who had breathing problems, was suddenly taken ill, he did not have the Rs 5,000 needed for admitting her to a private hospital. At that time he was deputy commissioner (excise) in Coimbatore and there were 650 liquor licences to be given out. The going bribe for each was rumoured to be Rs 10,000.
Sagayam started cleaning up Madurai the minute he landed here. The main bus terminus at Mattuthavani looked more like a bazaar, with shops all over the bus-shelters and no waiting place for passengers. Even a police outpost had been turned into a shop. The system was well-oiled with haftas to local politicians and policemen. Sagayam quickly went through the rulebook, cited the relevant clauses and cleaned up the entire area. But didn’t it hit poor shopkeepers who lost their livelihood? “A violation is a violation,” says Sagayam, “but we will help them rehabilitate.” Nageshwaran, a taxi-driver and one of Sagayam’s many fans, says, “He’s strict and hasn’t taken even ten paise in bribe during his career. He’s like the upright collectors they show in some films, a real hero with integrity.”
Sagayam’s masters degrees in social work and law come in useful in his role as an administrator. He knows the rulebooks in detail and is not afraid of using them, however powerful the opponent. No wonder then that Sagayam’s career is marked with the scars of countless battles.
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Sagayam’s wife Vimala has stood by him all these years but she was rattled by some of the threats during the elections. “He always says if you are right, nobody can hurt you,” she says. “But sometimes it becomes difficult.”
Sagayam takes a hands-on approach to his work. He holds a Monday ‘durbar’, at which anyone can meet him with their complaints. During tours of the district for review meetings and inspections, he will suddenly stop a school bus to talk to children or duck into a school to take a class. When students tell him they want to be IAS or IPS officers, he asks, “It’s all well to say now that you’ll be honest, but will you remain unbending about not taking bribes throughout your career?”
Some months back, while driving to a village, he found a 92-year-old woman cleaning rice. She said she had to work in order to eat. He immediately sanctioned Rs 1,000 as old-age pension for her. When 60-year-old Vellamma met him during a tour of Uthappanaikkanoor village this week and asked him to grant her a pension, he said, “I can do that. But do you want me to send your son to jail too—for abandoning you?” He said it with a smile, as a joke, but he has in fact taken action against children who don’t take care of their aging parents.
“I believe, as Mahatma Gandhi said, that India lives in her villages,” says Sagayam, who also idolises Subhash Chandra Bose. His years as a collector—he has slept overnight in village schools many times—have convinced him to better the lot of villagers by strengthening the village administrative officer (VAO) system. Many VAOs have never visited villages and often stay miles away from where they should be, in cities. In Namakkal, his action against errant VAOs had them ganging up with politicians to get him transferred. Over 5,000 villagers protested, saying they wouldn’t let Sagayam go. The politicians had to retreat.
Sagayam says he learnt honesty on his mother’s knees. He is the youngest of four sons of a farmer from Pudukottai. “Our adjoining field had mango trees and my friends and I would pick the fallen fruit,” he says. “But my mother made me throw the mangoes away, saying I should enjoy only what is mine.” Now his daughter Yalini wants to become a collector. When she has an argument with her brother Arun, she asks her father, “Is he really your son? He just told a lie!” Both of them are proud of their father. Recently, after a long time, the Sagayam family went on a vacation to Kullu in Himachal Pradesh. While visiting a gurudwara, a stranger came up to their father and asked him, “Aren’t you IAS officer Mr Sagayam?” Yalini and Arun have not stopped beaming.
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