Mylapore DCP Rajat Chaturvedi

When the cool looking Lucknow born Rajat Chaturvedi was transferred to Mylapore to take charge as the Deputy Commissioner of Police a couple of months back just ahead of the big Panguni Utsavam at the Kapaleeswarar temple, one may have wondered if the short period was enough for him to understand the scale of the festival and challenges for the police force especially on the Chariot and Arubathumoovar days. 

It was a big surprise to find him all at peace during the two long discussions at the Thiru Kalyanam Mandapam over the last week in preparation for the Panguni Utsavam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/03/kapali-devotee-aparna-panguni-utsavam.html). Chain Snatching, Vehicular Thefts, food wastes, over-crowding and traffic management pose big challenges for the Mylapore Police every year during this utsavam. As he sat next to temple EO R Hariharan, DCP Rajat was simply unfazed and there is a reason to it. He told this writer that in his previous posting in the Tirunelveli region, he came to experience a festival just as large as this.”

Nanguneri is the headquarters of the Vanamamamali Mutt and usually attracts big crowd during the Chitrai utsavam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/03/nanguneri-vanamamalai-divya-desam.html).

He proudly looks back at the festival management “I was in Nanguneri for the Brahmotsavam at the Thothadrinathan temple. Over 50000 people were there for the Chariot festival and I led the Police team at this utsavam. The devotion of the people was an eye opener. There was minimal chain snatching or drinking or thefts during the entire festival that attracted huge crowd. I saw devotion at its best there.”

With that experience behind him, he seems to be in complete control of the Panguni Utsavam and its arrangement. He understands the challenges and instinctively knows what the solutions are. For example, crowd management inside the temple complex is a high priority for him as he sits down with Inspector M Ravi to discuss the entrance and exit routes during the Chariot day and Arubathumoovar utsavam.

From a crime heavy Tirunelveli region to the traditional heartland of Mylapore, it might seem quite an extreme shift.  “Yes, I experienced Caste based crimes during my stint in Tirunelveli. To someone new to that region, it seemed illogical for people to be at caste war but that was the reality and I had to be on my toes every minute prepared for some caste led eventuality. Even small issues got escalated and the streets turned a battle field”, Rajat told this writer sitting in his office on Kutcheri Road on Saturday morning.

Mylapore is completely different for Rajat and at the other end of the criminal spectrum. From hardcore physical brutality on the ground in Tirunelveli and around, he is experiencing high rate of cybercrimes in Mylapore. “There is very little awareness among people as to how they are being easily conned. There is a 1930 number to call and report immediately about such crimes but people are not using this service and hence there is a time lag between the crime and the complaint.”

High on his priority list is to bring down the rate of cybercrime in the Mylapore region but he strikes a note of caution ‘Cybercrime is still in its nascent stage and one should not be surprised if the rate shoots up in the coming years. I want to educate people on the preventive steps to safeguard themselves from being conned. Another key feature of cybercrime is that the perpetrator is usually in another city unlike a physical thief. But there are immediate solutions available to citizens and I will be taking initiatives to bring down the cybercrime in Mylapore.”

DCP Rajat plans to soon have a meeting with Banking officials and Nodal Officers on faster resolution of cybercrimes and to freeze accounts as quickly as possible after the incident.

Among his first initiatives is to increase the number of CCTV cameras in the Mylapore Zone. “By end of March, the plan is to install high end 8 MB CCTV cameras at 135 locations on the streets of Mylapore. This will act as a deterrent for the wrong doers and is a big step in crime prevention as well as detection. Also, the monitoring control of the CCTVs has been moved to our office on Kutcheri Road. This will lead to a faster resolution of crimes through instant actions” says Rajat.

A three year AMC has also been provided for these CCTVs to ensure that their shelf life is longer.

DCP Rajat, a Computer Engineer from Mathura, is high on tech implementation in the police force. He had a big programming interest while at college and undertook programming projects. He believes that Technology can play a big role in reducing crimes. His vision for the Mylapore zone is to strengthen the Cyber Police stations. He is keen to execute the LIVE Mobile tracking for lost phones to help faster recovery.

He is also pushing for his team members to increase the usage of the Smart Kaavalar Mobile App “When I am on my rounds every day, I stop by and personally showcase the value of this app to my colleagues with a practical on the ground display at the time of the offence. “I am confident that the entire Mylapore team will soon begin to use the Smart Kaavalar app in a much bigger way and through that I believe the speed of resolution will be higher.”

Rajat is a guitarist and was part of the band while at college in Mathura. For a while over a decade ago, he also explored the possibility of becoming a professional guitarist but then the Police duty took over and he does not find much of a time these days to play the guitar. He is also a footballer and plays in the annual inter office tournaments. When he finds times, he can be seen at the Nehru stadium practicing with his colleagues.

His wife Shreya Gupta too is from the IPS and the couple are dedicating their lives to public service “In these three months, I have not had time to even enter a shop, let alone a holiday outing within the city. I love beaches but I find hard pressed in making time for a walk along the beach.”

However, he is at the Marina beach every Sunday on professional patrolling duty to monitor and manage the huge crowd that visits the seashore. One of his big personal ambitions during his Mylapore stint is to make the Marina a completely safe place for people. He is confident he will be able to bring down the crime rates on the beach. He is now planning to secure an ‘All Terrain Vehicle’ for his team so they could drive on the sand while on their crowd management duty. "It is extremely physically sapping for our team members to be walking from one end of the beach to the other while on duty and hence the ATV will be a big value add for them in discharging their duties better. I have also deployed anti-theft teams to reduce crimes along the Marina and positive results are already being seen.”

Mylaporeans had in the past raised issues about the challenges relating to filing FIRs at police stations for vehicular thefts. Rajat is keen to fast track this process. FIRs for vehicular thefts will be accepted and loaded on to the Smart Kaavalar App.“I believe that such apps will be the biggest aid for police in tracing vehicles. Another tech feature is the use of FRS (Face Recognition System) and this too helps in fast tracking and identifying the criminals from the data base. ”

Rajat is quick to point out the assistance from his predecessor at the Mylapore office Disha Mittal “She is ever ready to provide insights on the peculiarities in Mylapore and has been of great support to me in these three months since I took charge here.”

He is also working closely with the Chief of Traffic Police with whom he had worked earlier in the Tirunelveli zone.

He also has a soft corner for his colleagues “They are over worked most of the time. There are no fixed time of duty for the police personnel. Mylapore is also an area that the CM passes through every day and hence there is extra deployment of personnel during that period."

Starting Tuesday (March 28), the young 32 year old DCP Rajat Chaturvedi, who arrived in Mylapore only this January, will experience and enjoy the Panguni Utsavam at the Kapaleeswarar temple in just the same way he enjoyed the Vananamalai Divya Desam utsavam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2010/04/vanamamalai-thothadri-nathan-nanguneri.html) in Chitrai last year. He is looking forward to this challenge and is confident that big crowd days at the utsavam will go off well for the entire team is well prepared. With the blessings of the Divine Couple, Kapaleeswarar and Karpagambal, it is likely that DCP Rajat Chaturvedi will transform Mylapore into a No Crime Zone.