Team News Riveting
Guwahati, May 19
Anand Mishra, the 2011-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, had assumed the charge of Nagaon Superintendent of Police just 12 hours before when he got an assignment that he had never forestalled at first.
The IPS official from the cadre of top North-Eastern state was given the task to “save” the bus crew from down southern state of Kerala, who were stranded following COVID-19 induced lockdown in the state. But the plight of bus drivers and conductors was not confined to mere aground; the terror and extortion from the local goons had posed a bigger challenge.
The crew members of 94 buses, as per the record compiled by the district authorities, were stuck at different places as they failed to get return passengers. They had ferried thousands of people from Assam to their native state from Kerala when they were in need after losing jobs following lockdown. The crew never prophesied the problem ahead.
The goons approached the buses, bashed up the driver to extort money and even snatched away vehicle documents. The drivers and conductors from Kerala were living in misery; struggling to arrange meals under the shadow of terror unleashed by the goons. They were illegally collecting Rs 200 per bus per day.
After the Prime Minister’s Office intervened, the Assam Government swung into action. And Anand Mishra was in the frontline. “Main Hoon Naa,” the words from Anand Mishra, who trudged down a kutcha road with his team to reach one of the locations, came as a big breather for the crew. “It is now our responsibility; people from Kerala who have come here will return safely,” he said, adding that they would ensure that the crew would securely, safely and with dignity go home.
In a bid to make them more comfortable, Anand Mishra told them they were not in a foreign land. “You are in your own country; in your own place…language does not change the bonds of human beings,” the IPS officer boosted their morale. He gave his personal mobile number and made them feel free to give the ring in the dead of the night if anyone came to threaten them.
“I take personal responsibility and will see who dares to threaten you,” he added. The IPS officers assured that they would dole out all assistance including recovering the vehicle documents.
The man in Khaki had created a niche for himself for his down-to-earth approach during his earlier postings. As SP of Dhubri, Anand Mishra took care of netizens in an affectionate fashion that reflected when people accorded a heroic and emotional farewell when he was transferred.
