SSP Vaibhav’s blunt tone indicates a fight against anti-nationals, terrorism, and narco-terrorism by projecting himself as a staunch nationalist 

SSP Vaibhav’s blunt tone indicates a fight against anti-nationals, terrorism, and narco-terrorism by projecting himself as a staunch nationalist

SALIL RAINA

(POONCH TODAY NEWS)

POONCH: 2022-batch IPS Officer Vaibhav Meena, who played an important role post the Pahalgam terrorist attack, has been posted as SSP Poonch, and during his first interaction with media fraternity members after joining, he bluntly stated that he is a staunch nationalist and will not tolerate anti-national activities, terrorism, and narco-terrorism in the district and sought full cooperation of media fraternity members.

Right from the start of the meeting, SSP Vaibhav candidly expressed his views and said that he was enjoying a good life in the private sector, but his love for the nation, being a staunch nationalist, encouraged him to enter the IPS fraternity just to serve the nation by any means. Vaibhav highlighted the state of affairs in the national capital, where some anti-national forces were trying their best to break the nation, saying that the nation was facing a coordinated attack from anti-Bharat forces and it was the duty of every single citizen of India to stand with the nation. Vaibhav also highlighted the role he played in various operations that were launched post the Pahalgam terrorist attack. It is pertinent to mention here that the policing in the border district of Poonch remained under a big question mark due to a lack of professional coordination between officers of different ranks, and the district suffered heavily on various issues of internal security concerns due to this loophole. Internal department rivalry between junior and senior officers remained a routine affair. Some senior officers at the range level were seen using their agents in media to play conspiracies against district-level police officers to humiliate them, and some juniors were also seen using the same tactics against their seniors by using the same media agents who are known for their questionable credentials. As there are no elected media bodies in Poonch district, some police officers, including some SHOs, took huge benefit of this division between media fraternity members and used this to their benefit by forming a nexus with some self-styled media bodies and media agents/cum sources with an agenda to script many financial foul plays over the years. Moreover, some media persons also misused their police relations and were seen targeting innocent people to fulfil their desires and grabbed multiple targets. It is pertinent to mention here that some SSPs earlier posted in Poonch district also said the same thing: that the government sent them on a mission to tackle terrorism and narco-terrorism, but their tenures remained full of meagre achievements due to weak policing, although Angral and Baskotra archived some breakthroughs on internal security and drug fronts. But overall, the faith of the common man in policing suffered a huge dent during the last few years. In solving major cases, Poonch police fail to taste success, as the majority of SSPs and some other police officers preferred to pass their times by remaining in the company of their agents in media, civil society, and other fields, least bothering about the internal security concerns of the district. As they said that “there are no bad regiments, but bad colonels,” the district witnessed this a number of times. Now, whatever SSP Vaibhav said during the meeting with media fraternity members, the question arises: would he be able to implement his vision on the ground purely on merit or not? Only time will tell. The district badly required strong policing, as there is a strong network of anti-national forces, and the people have seen their open anti-national activities for years before August 2019, and unfortunately, similar activities are still going on in some pockets which need the attention of the police as a priority. Young IPS officer Vaibhav will face significant challenges on all fronts in the sensitive border district of Poonch; he must collaborate with influential and experienced figures in the bureaucracy and intelligence agencies, or he will encounter numerous obstacles in his role as SSP Poonch. But one thing that has touched the hearts of all is when he said that he is a staunch nationalist and his job is to protect the nation by any means. Meanwhile, SSP Vaibhav also sought the cooperation of media fraternity members in strengthening law and order, traffic management, fighting against drugs, social crimes, and public grievances, and he also assured his full cooperation to the media fraternity members.