With increase in crime all over Maharashtra, safety of citizens has been one of the important concerns of the police department. Mumbai was always touted as a safe city for women but with growing cases of eve-teasing and assaults on people who protest this evil, it may soon lose this tag. The State Police have pulled up their socks in a bid to protect women from crimes committed against them. Several emergency portals, applications etc have been launched for women to call or complain to the police immediately if they are attacked.
In a bid to cure this crime against women and understanding the importance of their safety, Inspector General of Police Kolhapur Range, Vishwas Nagare Patil launched 22 Nirbhaya teams in Sangli with the help of local policemen. They have even planned to execute similar steps in all the districts of western Maharashtra. In the post uploaded by him on social media, IGP Patil explained the concept and origin of Nirbhaya. The 
post mentioned that the concept is based on a successful SHE experiment by Hyderabad Police. “We are grateful to Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagwat, Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad, and Swati Lakra, Addl CP (Crimes), Hyderabad, for imparting training to five lady officers from our range who in turn, trained our teams. We have surveyed the hot spots which are vulnerable to 
crime against women. Each team will consist of six plainclothes police personnel including three lady Constables and one Sub-Inspector. They will be moving discreetly armed with hidden cameras. They will keep vigil, be on the lookout for hooligans, eve-teasers and molesters moving like predators in public places in and around hot spots, film them and then nab them. The offenders will be 
counselled when they are caught red-handed. Their data will be stored in the central server and the respective Nirbhaya teams will keep them under surveillance. The motive behind such widespread mission is to create a sense of security in the minds of women and fear in the minds of predators even during the absence of police machinery. We have carried massive campaigns with students and communities before the execution of this concept. We hope we will get the desired result and succeed in creating a safe environment for our mothers and sisters,” said Patil.
– by Mohit Naik
