A brief encounter with the CM

IN the mid-1990s, I was posted to Rajkot Rural district in Gujarat as the Superintendent of Police. I had never met the incumbent Chief Minister and it was not mandatory for an SP to call on him. However, within a week of my posting, the CM visited Gondal, a subdivisional headquarters town in the district.

On the day of the visit, the Collector and I were at the helipad in the morning, waiting to receive the CM, when a tough-looking young man came walking towards the line demarcating the security perimeter around the helipad. A constable tried to stop him, but he brushed the policeman aside and strode towards the reception line-up.

I told a sub-inspector to remove the intruder from the helipad. The sub-inspector stopped the fellow, but the intruder resisted, and there was an altercation. I asked the local SHO to detain the fellow and send him to the police station. The SHO despatched him there in a police vehicle.

The SHO said the intruder was a ruffian and the brother of an influential person known to the CM. He also told me, with a hint of caution, that the detainee’s brother was going to receive the CM at the very first place on his itinerary. I asked him to keep the intruder in detention until further instructions.

The CM arrived and drove down to a temple complex. Among the people waiting to receive him was the brother of the fellow we had detained. As he led the CM inside, he whispered something in the dignitary’s ear, to which the CM just nodded.

The last event on the CM’s itinerary was a public meeting. The function had begun and the CM’s speech was on. The Collector and I were sitting on one side of the stage. The local MP came to me and requested me to release the young man we had detained. He said the man’s brother had complained to the CM and the latter might ask me about it. I told him not to worry. He returned to his seat on the dais.

When the public meeting was over, the CM’s convoy arrived at the helipad and he took leave of everyone. Just before boarding the helicopter, he tapped me on the shoulder and took me aside. ‘How are you?’ he asked me as if he had known me for years. ‘Fine, sir. Thank you,’ I replied. Then, he asked: ‘This fellow you have detained, have you arrested him in any criminal case?’ I said: ‘No, sir. We detained him only until the end of your visit because he had breached the security cordon. We will release him shortly.’ ‘Okay. Have you settled down?’ he asked amiably. I said ‘yes’. Before leaving, he shook my hand and said: ‘My best wishes to you!’

There was no occasion to meet the CM after that visit, and he resigned from the post two months later. But I feel good every time I recall my brief encounter with him.