Devidas Patil: Destiny's Child

Courage and destiny are two things which Mr. Devidas Patil, Sr.PI, Mundhwa police station believes in. Hailing from Baarsi, a small village in Solapur, he completed his Msc. Mathematics and B.ed., exam from a college in Baarsi and according to him it was a sheer stroke of luck that he opted for MPSC and cleared it at the very first attempt, and that’s how his journey began. He joined police force as a PSI in 1985, first posting being Mumbai, then Nanded and has been in Pune since 1992.

Out of the many solved cases to his credits, this city cop feels proudly mentions a triple murder case in Mumbai which he and his team successfully solved in 3 months flat. Having a wide range of experience of solving different cases and proving himself time and again, his only regret is that they do not get enough support from the govt, in terms of recruitment of staff. There are vacancies galore and though many youth are willing to join the police dept, the govt. is not interested. He feels the govt’s ratio of 60 officers for every 2 lac citizens is downright absurd and he emphasizes that this is a staunch reason for the large number of pending cases and public’s strong disbelief in the police dept. In spite of all these things, he is happy with the recent awareness in people about the country’s law and their own rights. Happy that now it is “JANTA RAJ” and not “POLICE RAJ”, like in the past times. This brave officer doesn’t forget to mention the name of Mr. Sanjay Jadhav, DCP Pune, who has implemented hi-tech techniques and subsystems in the police stations. Now that the police are on the web, he has encourages them to use emails and sms thereby exploiting the enhanced access to the common man.

Of his busy schedule, Mr.Patil spares time not only for his own family, but also for the city youth. He along with the support of the dept. runs a one week internship program for final year college students where they are given not only theoretical, but also practical knowledge about the core duties of the dept, right from taking complains, to registering cases, to solving them. The motive behind it is to incline more and more youth towards the police service and includes girls too. This attempt is proving fruitful as they have gained many good officers out of these students.

Smilingly he just sends a message to the public; to not only remember their rights, but also their duties as citizens. Mr. Patil also appeals the people to co-operate with the police, come out of their shells and draw their attention to any illegal practices going on, thereby reducing the crime ratio and helping them make our country a much better place to live in. This city cop recalls his journey as a successful tenure and Endeavour’s to serve his city’s denizens to the best of his abilities, not for the sake of awards or rewards, but for the love and care towards his extended family – The common man.